India’s Rohan Bopanna and Australian Matthew Ebden exited the 2024 French Open on Thursday after losing the men’s doubles semi-final to the Italian pairing of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in three sets .
In the match that lasted just under two hours on Court Simonne-Mathieu, Bopanna and Ebden lost 5-7, 6-2, 2-6 to the same duo that they beat to win the Australian Open earlier this year.
It was a good start for the Indo-Australian pair, who are seeded second at Roland Garros this year, as they secured a 4-1 lead in the opening set. The advantage was in vain as Ebden was sloppy on his serve, allowing the Italians to break back and level things at 4-games all.
Vavassori’s serve in particular was quite impressive and Bopanna had to pull out all the stops to ensure that they kept abreast of the Italian pair. However, Ebden’s serve allowed the Italians to break once again and they won the opening set 7-5 on their own serve.
The loss of the first set from a winning position didn’t deter Bopanna and Ebden, although the latter needed a longer time-out to seek medical attention for his back during the set break. They once again raced to a good lead of 3-0, getting the breakpoint early in the second set.
After that initial error, Bolelli and Vavassori were able to hold their serve until the eighth game where a lack of power behind the serve saw Bopanna and Ebden win the breakpoint and level the match at one-set all.
However, the manner in which the Italians conceded the second set had rattled them and motivated them to come out stronger. Ebden’s serve continued to trouble the Indo-Australian pair and Bopanna looked to be losing some steam also.
Unforced errors allowed for Bolelli and Vavassori to break them in the third game and the latter’s serve game was on point as they led 3-1 after the fourth game. Another breakpoint opportunity for the Italians in the seventh game saw Bopanna recover to make it deuce, but it allowed Bolelli and Vavassori to serve for the match and send them into the final.
