The men’s doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Edben suffered a heartbreaking loss in the semi-final match of the French Open 2024 on Thursday.
The Indo-Australian pair was defeated by Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, conceding a 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 loss in a match that lasted an hour and 58 minutes.
Bopanna and Ebden had a challenging start, losing the first set 7-5. They staged a comeback in the second set, winning 2-6, but couldn’t maintain their momentum and ultimately lost the third set 6-2 to the Italian duo.
Earlier on Wednesday, Bopanna and Ebden triumphed in the quarterfinals, defeating Belgium’s Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen with a score of 7(7)-6(3), 5-7, 6-1. The pair are the reigning Australian Open champions and were seeded second in the tournament, behind Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina.
In the Australian Open held earlier this year in January, Bopanna and Ebden defeated Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in straight sets, 7-6, 7-5, in a thrilling final. This victory marked Bopanna’s second career Grand Slam title and his first in men’s doubles. His previous Grand Slam win came in mixed doubles with Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada at the 2017 French Open.
Bopanna, making his 17th Australian Open appearance, secured his maiden Grand Slam men’s doubles title and became the oldest Grand Slam champion in the process. He also became the third Indian man in the Open Era to win a major men’s doubles title, following Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Additionally, he achieved the distinction of becoming the world’s oldest first-ranked player following the title win.