Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden continued their journey in the men’s doubles draw of the Wimbledon Championships, coming up with a straight-sets win over British wildcard pair of Jacob Fearnley and Johannus Monday.
In a match that lasted 69 minutes, the sixth-seeded Indo-Australian pair came up with a 7-5, 6-3 win over the scratch-team from the United Kingdom.
Bopanna and Ebden however, didn’t get off to a good start. Ebden, who had won the men’s doubles title last year along with compatriot Max Purcell, was broken in his first service game as the home team went up 2-1. They held the lead till the eight game when the Bopanna-Ebden broke back to level proceedings at 4-4.
At the end of the first set, Fearnley’s serve was broken when serving at 5-6 to give Bopanna-Ebden the first set.
In the second set, Fearnley’s serve was broken at the first time of asking, taking Bopanna-Ebden 3-1 ahead. It was a lead they would protect comfortably, as the seeded team would not face a single break point on their own serve.
Bopanna, with this trademark serve, finished off the match with an ace out wide to Fearnley to send the team to the third round, where they will next play alternates David Pel of the Netherlands and American Reese Stalder.
43-year-old Bopanna is now the only Indian left in the tournament.