Yesterday, February 24th, Veteran Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden won the Qatar Open doubles final, held in Doha, defeating Constant Lestienne and Botic van de Zandschulp 6-7 (5), 6-4, 10-6.
This is Bopanna’s maiden title in 2023 and 23rd of his career. The title win was a relief for both Bopanna and Ebden as the duo was defeated by Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in the Rotterdam Open final earlier this season.
Bopanna and Ebden toiled hard in order to win the Qatar Open final. The duo had to drag the first and third sets into tiebreakers in yesterday’s match which took about 100 minutes to be concluded.
42-year-old Bopanna has been in scintillating form of late and reached the mixed doubles final of the last Australian Open pairing with Sania Mirza. After the match, Bopanna averred that the defeat in the Rotterdam Open final was very excruciating for him, but winning matches under pressure (winning sets in tiebreaker) in the last few matches of the Qatar Open had given him immense satisfaction.