French Open 2024 tennis: Rohan Bopanna-Matt Ebden beat N Sriram Balaji-Miguel Reyes-Varela to enter quarter-finals

The Indo-Australian pair beat Balaji and Varela in a super tiebreaker after three closely-contested sets.

2 minBy Utathya Nag
Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden

(Getty Images)

India’s Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden advanced to the men’s doubles quarter-finals of the French Open 2024 after beating N Sriram Balaji and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela in the third round at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris on Monday.

Second seeds Bopanna and Ebden had to dig deep in a match of fine margins to defeat Balaji-Varela 6(2)-7(7), 6-3, 7(10)-6(8) in just under two and a half hours.

India’s Balaji and his partner, who made it to the main draw as alternates, were the clear underdogs coming into the Grand Slam match against the reigning Australian Open champions but showed little signs of being overwhelmed by the occasion.

Both tennis pairs were clinical to hold on to their serves in the first set. Bopanna-Ebden managed to save a set point in the 12th game but were outplayed 7-2 in the tie-breaker as Balaji and Varela took a shock lead.

The Indo-Australian team needed to respond in the second set and managed to edge ahead after converting the first break point of the match in the fourth game. Despite Balaji and Varela saving two set points in the eighth game, Bopanna and Ebden finally drew level.

The third set was even tighter than the first with neither team managing a single break point opportunity over the course of the 12 games. The lead changed hands several times in the super tie-breaker and could’ve gone either way with the score tied at 7-all.

At that crucial juncture, Bopanna-Ebden finally managed to break away and converted their second match point opportunity to seal a berth in the quarter-finals.

Bopanna-Ebden will face Belgium’s Joran Vliegen and Sander Gille, the men’s doubles tenth seeds, in the final eight at Roland Garros 2024.

More from