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Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden's brilliant run at the 2024 French Open has come to an end following a 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 defeat in the semifinals. On Thursday, June 6, Bopanna and Ebden took on Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori, with a place in the final on the line.
They went into the match with a 2-1 lead in the head-to-head and having defeated the Italian pair in the title clash at the Australian Open earlier this year.
The match began on an even footing on Court Simonne Mathieu, with the pairs trading blows and managing to stay on level terms. While Bopanna and Ebden managed to convert the only break point chance they got, they ended up conceding two of them to lose the first set.
The Indian-Australian pair started the second set strong, breaking Bolelli and Vavassori's serves twice while not giving the Italians any chance of a service break. They clinched the set in a confident fashion and forced the game into a decider.
Bopanna and Ebden, however, couldn't make the most of their momentum. They conceded a couple of breaks and could not give themselves a single chance to break Vavassori and Bolelli, and ended up losing the match in an hour and 58 minutes.
Having lost to Bopanna and Ebden in the title match Down Under, Vavassori and Bolelli managed to get their revenge and seal their spot in the final in Paris.
"Big initiative & little nerve-wracking" - Rohan Bopanna on providing opportunities for India’s underprivileged youth
Rohan Bopanna is looking forward to providing sporting and educational opportunities to a select group of kids at his tennis academy in Bengaluru.
Recently, 25 children were selected from a pool of 300 kids to relocate from Assam to Bengaluru, where they will receive free lodging, education, and tennis instruction at the Rohan Bopanna Tennis Academy.
The 44-year-old stated that the main aim of the program was to empower them beyond just sporting skills.
"Through this programme, we aim to not only nurture their athletic talents but also empower them with education and life skills that will shape their future. While we might get a player to emerge from this, it’s more about helping these underprivileged kids in life," he told the ATP.
"It’s a big initiative and a little bit nerve-wracking, but it’s definitely going to be worthwhile. Hopefully the programme will be a step to them playing some junior tournaments or maybe even getting a tennis scholarship in the U.S. Even if they don’t take up the sport seriously, they may stay in the sport as we need good young people to help run tennis in India in the future," he added.
Bopanna, whose men's doubles campaign at Roland Garros came to an end in the semifinals, has his eyes set on the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is less than two months away. He recently announced that he hopes to partner N. Sriram Balaji in the French capital.
