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Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden have sailed through to the semifinals of the 2024 French Open with a three-set win against tenth seeds Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.
On Thursday, June 5, Bopanna and Ebden took on the Belgian duo of Gille and Vliegen in the quarterfinals. Both pairs started the match on an even footing, with the Indian-Australian duo clinching the tightly contested first set in the tie break.
Gille and Vliegen fought back in the second set and took the match into the decider, where Bopanna and Ebden upped the ante and registered a 7-6(3), 5-7, 6-1 win on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
This is Bopanna's second men’s doubles semis at Roland Garros in three years. In 2022, he partnered with Dutchman Matwe Middelkoop and reached the last four, where they lost 6-4, 3-6, 6(8)-7 to eventual champions Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer.
Bopanna and Ebden will face eleventh-seeded Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori for a place in the final. It is a rematch of this year’s Australian Open men's doubles final, where Bopanna and Ebden beat Bolelli and Vavassori 7-6 (7-0), 7-5 to take home the title Down Under.
Bopanna is the only Indian left in contention in Paris this year. N. Sriram Balaji and his Mexican partner Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela lost to Bopanna-Ebden in the third round of men’s doubles while Sumit Nagal made an opening round exit in the men’s singles after a straight sets defeat against Karen Khachanov.
Rohan Bopanna eager to partner with Sriram Balaji at Paris Olympics, AITA set to give approval
With the 2024 Paris Olympics less than two months away, Rohan Bopanna has decided on who to partner with at the quadrennial event.
The 44-year-old recently wrote to the All India Tennis Association (AITA) stating his desire to join forces with N.Sriram Balaji in the French capital for the Olympics. Following that, AITA Secretary General Anil Dhupar stated that the association will not have any objections to the same.
"Rohan has written to us that he wants to play with Balaji. Balaji is a good player. He played well in Pakistan also, rising to the occasion. He also did well on clay at ongoing French Open. Balaji is a big server. If Rohan wants to play with him we have no objection to that," he said. (via Firstpost)
Dhupar also stated that a final decision on the matter will be taken after the International Tennis Federation (ITF) releases the rankings list.
