Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden displayed stirring mental heft in their Miami Open, Masters 1000 triumph last week. The Indo-Aussie combine, not only reeled off the last six points of the match, coming from behind to win the super tie-breaker against the Croat-American combine of Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek, but also did well to put behind them the slip in the opening set.
Bopanna, 44, and Ebden, 36, had three set points on serve at 6-5 in the opening set. They then double-faulted on set point in the first set tie-break to give their rivals the early advantage. After an hour and 43 minutes, Bopanna and Ebden rallied for a sparkling 6-7 (3), 6-3, 10-6 win that moved them to joint No. 1 in the individual doubles rankings with Dodig and Krajicek down to three and four.
“It’s tough. These guys, they fight back in tough moments,” said Ebden after he and Bopanna sealed win. We just tried a different method. We just relaxed and let ourselves play, and just saw what happened. It turned out well.”
The world No. 1 pairing improved to 14-3 for the 2024 season. Bopanna, who became the oldest Masters 1000 titlist in Indian Wells last year, broke his own record by claiming the Miami crown.
