Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden lose in opening group match

Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden lost to local favourites Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in their first men's doubles match of the ATP Finals 2024 Bob Bryan Group in Turin, Italy on Monday.

Competing on the hard courts of the Pala Alpitour, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Edben, seeded sixth, lost to fourth seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 6-2, 6-3 in 57 minutes.

The Indo-Australian duo struggled to find their rhythm early on, with Bolelli and Vavassori securing a break in the second game before another in the eighth to wrap up the first set.

Bolelli and Vavassori, who lost to Bopanna and Ebden in the final of the Australian Open at the start of the year, did not hold back in the second set.

After a confident hold to love in the opening game, Bolelli and Vavassori broke through again in the fourth game. Bopanna and Ebden held their remaining serves but could not gather enough momentum to break their opponents.

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Edben will face Marcelo Arevalo/Mate Pavic in their second match of the Bob Bryan Group on Wednesday before taking on Kevin Krawietz/Tim Puetz in their final group match. The top two teams from the group will qualify for the semi-finals of the men’s tennis championship.

This is Bopanna’s fifth appearance at the ATP Finals after 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2023.

The Indian tennis player made the finals in 2012 and 2015, first with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and then with Romania’s Florin Mergea. He lost on both occasions.

Bopana and Ebden reached the semi-finals last year. No Indian has won the ATP Finals title to date.

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