(Tennis News) Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden made history on Saturday, clinching the Australian Open doubles championship by defeating the team of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori. The Indian and Australian duo secured the victory with a scoreline of 7-6(0), 7-5, overpowering the Italian pair in straight sets in a match lasting over 1 hour and 39 minutes.
Prior to this significant triumph, Bopanna had not secured a men’s doubles title at a Grand Slam tournament, despite reaching the final twice before—both instances at the US Open in 2013 and 2023. However, he boasts a Grand Slam title in mixed doubles from his win in 2017 at the French Open.
Bopanna’s victory also marks him as the third Indian to win a men’s doubles Grand Slam title. In the semifinals, Bopanna and Ebden secured their spot in the final by defeating Zhang Zhizhen of China and Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic with a scoreline of 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10-7) in just over two hours on Thursday.
At the age of 43, Bopanna has become the oldest Grand Slam champion in men’s tennis, surpassing the record held by Jean-Julien Rojer, who won the French Open men’s doubles title in 2022 at the age of 40 with Marcelo Arevola. The final at the Rod Laver Arena featured a hard-fought battle, with only one break of serve occurring when Vavassori dropped his serve at love in the 11th game of the second set. The match was characterized by a limited number of break points, with the second seeds having opportunities early in the contest, but the Italians managed to save them and stay on equal footing.
The decisive tie-breaker saw Bolelli’s serve broken twice as the second seeds surged to a 5-0 lead without conceding a point on their serve. Vavassori also lost his serve, granting their opponents six set points, and the first one was converted by Ebden with a forehand winner down the line.
