Bopanna one win away from winning his first Grand Slam, reaches Australian Open final

Rohan Bopanna is now just one win away from winning his first Grand Slam title as he entered the Australian Open men’s doubles final with Australia’s Matthew Ebden. Second seeds Bopanna and Ebden defeated Thomas Machak and Zhang Xinzhen 6-6 in a tense semi-final on Thursday. 3, 3 6, 7. Defeated by 6 (10.7). His experience in super tie breakers came in handy in the match that lasted for about two hours. Zhang is ranked 54th and Machak is ranked 75th in the world rankings. Both are very good players with both being in the top 100 in the singles rankings and they gave a tough challenge to Bopanna and Ebden. Just a day earlier, Bopanna had ensured the top spot in the world doubles rankings. He displayed strong service and strokes in the match. He has reached the US Open finals in 2013 and 2023 but could not win a Grand Slam title.

Now at the age of 43, he is one victory away from fulfilling his dream. Bopanna and Ebden will now face Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, who defeated Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann and Dominik Kofer in the 6. 3, 3 6, 7. Defeated by 6. After the match, Bopanna said, “We have played many super tiebreakers on the circuit. The returns from our opponents were excellent so we had to keep our serves strong. I have a good rapport with Ebden.” When asked about success even at this age, he said, ”A lot of preparation goes on behind the scenes. I have a big team with me. I maintained my focus and paid full attention to fitness. I just do yoga and I think mental strength helps.” Ebden said it was special to win in front of the home crowd. He said, “I am very happy.” It was special to win in front of the home crowd. The opponents were quite dangerous.

The doubles experts faced the singles experts and the audience must have enjoyed it. We are working very hard and now there is one match left.” After equality in the first two sets, Bopanna and Ebden were 0-0 in the first game of the third set. Were behind by 30 but Bopanna maintained his strong service. Zhang and Machak’s superb crosscourt winner was a treat to watch. He took the lead by breaking his opponent’s service. Bopanna’s sporting spirit was once again seen when in the seventh game, after touching the net, he himself told that he had lost a point. After Bopanna’s backhand shot, he was 15. Trailing by 30, Zhang hit a forehand winner on the crosscourt, forcing Bopanna to face two break points. His backhand shot went wide and the opposition team made a comeback.

In the next game, Bopanna and Ebden got three match points which they saved. However, the Chinese players made a comeback and at one point the score was 5. 5 done. After a close match in the 11th game, Ebden held serve and won 6. Gave a lead of 5, after which they could have won the match with one more break point but due to the third set being tied, a super tiebreaker took place. In the super tiebreaker, Ebden took the lead with a return winner and Bopanna hit a brilliant volley winner on Zhang’s return to take the score to 7. Did it 5. Bopanna finished the match with an ace.

Disclaimer: IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.

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