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Indian tennis great Rohan Bopanna created history as he and his partner Matthew Ebden defeated Croatia’s Ivan Dodic and American Austin Krajicek 6-7 6-3 10-16 to clinch the Miami Open title. In the process, Bopanna, aged 44, became the oldest man to win a Masters 1000 title on the ATP circuit. The tennis star broke his own record, having created it last year by winning the Indian Wells title. The Miami Open win also enabled Bopanna to become the second Indian since Leander Paes to reach the finals of all nine ATP Masters 1000 events.
Bopanna and Ebden had a sloppy start to the game as they lost the first set by 6-7. However, the Indo-Aussie pair kept their nerves cool and made a solid comeback in the match. In the second set, Bopanna-Ebden sealed a 6-3 win. Meanwhile, in the third and deciding set, they dominated over their opponents and clinched a 10-6 win to end the game in their favour.
Earlier, in the semi-final round, Bopanna-Edben entered into the final after beating Spain’s Marcel Granollers and his Argentine partner Horacio Zeballos by 6-1 and 6-4.
In the semi-final match of the Miami Open, they dominated the game from the very first moment. In the first set, the Indo-Aussie duo clinched a 6-1 win. In the second set, the opponents tried to make a comeback but Bopanna and his teammate kept their nerves cool and sealed a 6-4 win.
In the Australian Open held this year, the duo defeated Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in straight sets, 7-6, 7-5, in a thrilling final. It was Bopanna’s second career Grand Slam title and his first in men’s doubles. His previous Grand Slam victory came in mixed doubles with Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada at the 2017 French Open.
Bopanna, who made his 17th Australian Open appearance in this edition, comfortably wrapped up his maiden Grand Slam men’s doubles title victory. Aged 43 years, 329 days, he also became the oldest Grand Slam champion.
The Indian tennis player is also the third Indian man in the Open Era to win a major men’s doubles title, following Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. He also became the world’s first-ranked player following the title win.
With ANI inputs
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