Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden advanced to the quarterfinals of the men's doubles tournament at the 2024 French Open. The Indo-Australian duo defeated N Sriram Balaji and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela on Court 7 on Monday (June 3), with final score of 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 7-6 (10-8). Bopanna and Ebden barely avoided a scary ordeal after a gruelling two hours and 20 minutes, ultimately coming out on top.
While Bopanna and Ebden were the favourites, Balaji and Reyes-Varela put up a strong challenge.
Balaji and Reyes-Varela had a great chance to close the second set in their favour when Ebden hit a forehand wide at 30-all but Balaji returned wide on the break chance.
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Eventually, a tie-break was required to decide the opening set. Balaji and Reyes-Varela raced to a 4-1 lead after Bopanna served a double fault at 1-1. The Mexican hit a stunning backhand angled winner and Bopanna made an unforced error.
From there, it was a set to be taken by the unseeded pair. Reyes-Varlea hit a volley winner to earn four set points. Balaji converted the first with a widish unreturnable serve.
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Break in the second set gave Bopanna and Ebden to force a third set and they did not lose the opportunity. The third set was a tight affair with both pairs not giving an inch to each other. As the set progressed the games were held at love.
Ebden came out to serve under pressure at 5-6 but delivered. The Super Tie-breaker was equally engrossing with the two pairs locked 6-6 at one stage. However, Balaji served a double fault at 7-8 to hand the opponents two match points. They saved the first when Ebden's overhead smash went into net but the Australian found a winner on the next to close the game.
With inputs from PTI
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