Rohan Bopanna and Australian partner Matthew Ebden are one win from the Australian Open men’s doubles title. The duo prevailed over Tomas Machac and Zhang Zhizhen in a tense semi-final in Melbourne on Thursday.
The second-seeded Indo-Australian pair faced some resistance from their rivals in the third set but eventually the experience of playing Super Tie Breakers helped them nail the finish with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10-7) scoreline after two hours and two minutes.
“On the circuit, we have played lot of Super Tie Breaks that get us sharp. They (Machac and Zhang) return extremely well, we had to make sure we serve well and on spots.
“This partnership (with Ebden) has been good,” Bopanna said after the match.
A day after he was assured of becoming the world No.1 player in men’s doubles, Bopanna, as usual, served well on big points and also managed to pull out the strokes and tricks when they needed the most.
Bopanna has won a grand slam in mixed doubles — at the French Open in 2017 with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski — but a men’s doubles title has eluded him so far. He has reached the US Open final twice (2013, 2023).
Now he has the chance to tick that box on Saturday.
Bopanna and Ebden will face the Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, who beat the German team of Yannick Hanfmann and Dominik Koepfer 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (5) in the other semi-final.
Speaking on Sony Sports Network’s Extraaa Serve following the triumph, Bopanna said: “Extremely happy to be playing tennis, especially playing it pain-free.
“Playing as the world No. 1, I was playing freely and completely enjoying myself out on the court.
“Overall, I am enjoying myself being where I am today and playing one of my best tennis in couple of decades.”
Bopanna has had little time to recover between matches.
“It was extremely difficult. It’s very rare that in between the tournament you get so many overwhelming messages and so much love that I have received, for which I am very thankful.
“But I made sure I got my eight hours of sleep for today and I’m extremely happy that we have a day off before we play the final on Saturday.”
