In-form Rohan Bopanna wins Qatar Open title with Matthew Ebden week after Rotterdam heartbreak

By India Today Sports DeskIndia’s Rohan Bopanna and Australia’s Matthew Ebden won their maiden ATP Tour title as a team when the duo defeated Constant Lestienne and Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-6 in the final of the Qatar Open ATP 250 tournament in Doha on Friday. It was Bopanna’s first title of 2023 after heartbreaking defeats in Australia Open and Rotterdam Open earlier in the season.

Notably, Bopanna and Ebden had lost the Rotterdam Open final to Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek despite having a Championship point in the match tie-break.

The final against Lestienne and Zandschulp did not begin on the right note for the Indo-Australian pair as they lost a hard-fought tie-breaker. However, Bopanna and Ebden found ways to stay in the contest and win the 99-minute final. Bopanna and Ebden converted four of six break point opportunities and took command early in the Match Tie-break, opening 4/1 and 9/4 leads en route to their win.

42-year-old Bopanna has been in terrific form, reaching the mixed doubles final at Australian Open with Sania Mirza. The final defeat in Rotterdam was heartbreaking but the senior campaigner used all his experience to put behind the disappointment and start afresh in Doha. it was also the 23rd tour-level title for Bopanna in his career.

Bopanna and Ebden sealed three of their four victories in Match Tie-breaks, including Friday’s final.

Meanwhile, in the Bengaluru ATP Challenger event, Anirudh Chandrasekhar and N Vijay Sundar Prashanth eliminated fourth-seeded Arjun Kadhe and Max Neuchrist 7-6 (1) 4-6 10-2 to storm into the doubles final.

Anirudh and Prashanth remained the only Indians in the fray with the exit of Sumit Nagal from the singles event on Thursday.

The duo will play the final on Saturday.

In the singles quarter-finals, Hamad Medjedovic of Serbia toppled No 1 seed Chun-Hsin Tseng of Taipei. (With PTI inputs)