Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden failed to secure victory in their first match of the ATP Finals 2024. On Monday, November 11, the Indo-Australian pair lost to the Italian pair of Simone Boleli and Andrea Vavassori in straight sets in the group stage match on Centre Court. In a rematch of this year’s Australian Open final, it took Boleli and Vavassori only 56 minutes to win the match 6-2, 6-3.
The Italian duo seized the initiative right from the word go after earning an early break to go 2-0 up in the first set. They earned another break of serve to make sure that Bopanna and Ebden weren’t allowed to make a comeback. The second set wasn’t any different as Boleli and Vavassori broke their opponent’s serve to come up trumps in less than an hour.
The Italian pair dominated to the extent that they did not give Bopanna and Ebden even a single chance to break their serve. They served effectively, winning 89 percent of points from their first serves (31 out of 35) and 83 percent from their second serves (5 out of 6). Bopanna and Ebden, on the other hand, struggled with their serves and also made two double faults.
Bopanna and Ebden are yet to open their account in the Bob Bryan Group. Earlier in the day, the German pair of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz defeated Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-4 and went to the top of the table in their group.
In singles, Casper Ruud pulled off a huge upset after beating Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 7-5. Alcaraz, who won the French Open and Wimbledon earlier this year, looked out of sorts in the first set and although he fought in the second, he could not force a decider.
