On Friday, Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden took home the men’s doubles championship in the Qatar Open 2023 tennis competition in Doha. The pair defeated Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands and Constant Lestienne of France 6(5)-7(7), 6-4, 10-6.

It was Rohan Bopanna’s second victory in the Qatar Open. He had finished second last year with Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the doubles competition after winning it in 2020 with his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.

Throughout his career, Rohan Bopanna has already won 23 doubles championships. It was his first time playing alongside current Wimbledon  doubles winner Matthew Ebden. At Tel Aviv, Pune, and Adelaide, the Indian tennis player won three championships last year. Bopanna’s first championship of 2023 was the ATP 250 victory in Qatar.

Bopanna and Ebden also advanced to the Rotterdam Open ATP 500 final last week, but they fell to Austin Krajicek of the USA and Ivan Dodig of Croatia in the match tiebreaker following the winning point.

The third-seeded Indian-Australian combination in Doha on Friday had a break advantage at 6-5 in the first set before being pushed back and dropping the set in a tiebreaker. In the second game, both defences improved, and the teams maintained their serves until the ninth game. Bopanna and Ebden, though, triumphed in the tenth game to force a match tiebreak.

Bopanna is ranked No. 37 in the world and No. 17 in the ATP doubles rankings. The match tiebreaker was won in 99 minutes by Ebden after they successfully converted four of six break-point opportunities.

source: http://www.sportscafe.in / Sportscafe / Home> Tennis> National> News / by SportsCafe Desk / February 25th, 2023