Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden are leading in the first set against Italy's Simone Bolelli, Andrea Vavassori in the men's doubles final of the 2024 Australian Open, at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Saturday. Bopanna, India's grand old man of tennis, stands on the verge of historyouncing back from the heartbreak of five consecutive first-round exit in Melbourne, Bopanna, who made his 17th Australian Open appearance in this edition, stands a win away from winning his maiden Grand Slam men's doubles title.
The second-seed pair has been in top-notch form at Melbourne Park, where they prevailed in six set deciders, including two super tiebreaks, to reach their straight Grand Slam final together, having scripted a similar run at the US Open last year. Bopanna and Ebden will aim to win their maiden major trophy. The Indian, who will debut atop the ATP Doubles Rankings come Monday and become the oldest No. 1 in history, has won 24 tour-level doubles titles but never a Slam, while Ebden won Wimbledon in 2022 with Max Purcell.
Bopanna-Ebden make it 4-3 and manage to lead once again in this entertaining first set against this Italian pair. Another break point for Bopanna-Ebden, but the Italians manage to hold. They level it at 2-2 in the ongoing first set.
Bopanna-Ebden are leading 2-1 and now trail 15-30 in the fourth game as the Italians look to level! Good game of tennis going on here folks. It is 1-1 as the Italians level it early in the first set! Bopanna-Ebden had a break point but Bolelli forced two wide shots to hold at 1-1.
Rohan Bopanna Australian Open 2024 Final Live score: Bopanna serves to start the first game in the first set! He and Ebden wrap up the first game with ease and take an early 1-0 lead against their Italian opponents. Bolleli to serve in the second game now.
The coin toss is done and the photo-op is also completed! The men's doubles final is set to begin and Bopanna will be eyeing history here! They are now practicising some shots and rallies. This is the second straight Grand Slam final for Bopanna and Ebden as a pair after the US Open last year.
Next up is Bopanna and Ebden's final as they will be looking to claim the men's doubles title at the Rod Laver Arena. Bopanna is set to become the oldest Grand Slam winner, if he wins today! He has reached the US Open final twice (2013 and 2023), but a Major trophy still awaits for him in his career and he is already 43-years-old, so this could be the perfect occasion.
Speaking during the course of this Grand Slam event, Bopanna revealed, At the end of 2019, I was thinking about stopping because my knees were in extreme pain, I was on 2-3 painkillers a day. In 2021, I did not even win a match for the first five months of the year. These thoughts have crossed my mind.
As a tennis player, you think sometimes the journey is done and you don't know what's next. The biggest thing for me is I found new ways to persevere, challenge myself and really give it another shot. I am thankful that I stuck to my instinct and believed in myself. That really shows why today I have been able to achieve this.
They are 8-1 in 2024 after reaching second consecutive ATP final. Bopanna and Ebden had lost in the Adelaide International final against Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. In 2023, when the partnership had begun, the two were 42-20 on the tour, with most success coming on hard court. They won titles in Indian Wells and Qatar Open.
R1 - beat James Duckworth-Marc Polmans 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(2)
R2 - beat John Milman-Edward Winter 6-2, 6-4
R3 - beat Wesley Koolhof-Nikola Metic 7-6(8), 7-6(4)
QF - beat Maximo Gonzalez-Andres Molteni 6-4, 7-6(5)
SF - beat Zhang Zhizhen-Tomas Machac 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(7)
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