US Open 2024: Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Edben lose in third round

Indian men’s doubles player Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden lost in the third round of the US Open 2024 in New York.

The Indo-Australian pair lost 1-6, 5-7 to Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni. Bopanna and Ebden were seeded third while the Argentine duo were seeded 16th. The match lasted 66 minutes.

The Indo-Australian pair’s loss meant all Indians competing in the US Open have been eliminated at various stages of the tournament, with the exception of Bopanna who will be in action with Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia in the mixed doubles category.

Bopanna and Ebden were on the backfoot right from the start of the match and the Argentine pair completely broke Bopanna and Ebden’s serve twice in the first set to stamp an authority in the match.

After winning the first set 6-1, the Argentine pair came up against a spirited Indo-Australian duo. The second seeded pair managed to win all their service games to make it 5-5 but were a breakpoint down in the 11th game of the second set. A backhand volley winner gave the 16th seeded pair a crucial 6-5 lead and with Bopanna and Ebden making a backhand error, the Argentina players closed the match in their favour.

Bopanna and Ebden won the Australian Open this year, lost in the semifinals of the French Open and lost in the second round of the Wimbledon this year.

The 44-year-old Bopanna had already announced retirement from Davis Cup and it is yet to be seen if he will defend his Australian Open title in January 2025.

Earlier, India’s Sumit Nagal lost in the first round while Yuki Bhambri and N Sriram Balaji lost in the men’s doubles category at various stages of the US Open.

Interestingly, Bopanna and his Indonesian partner Sutjiadi will meet Ebden and his partner Barbora Krejcikova of Czech Republic in the mixed doubles category.