Indian doubles star Rohan Bopanna continued his great run at the Australian Open as he made it to the men's doubles final along with Matt Ebden.
Bopanna-Ebden, seeded second, scored a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7) win over Zhang Zhizhen and Tomas Machac in the semi-final on Thursday.
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This is the second straight Grand Slam final for the Indo-Australian pair.
Bopanna-Ebden had also made it to the 2023 US Open final, where they lost 6-2, 3-6, 4-6 to Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.
On Wednesday, the Indian had already secured his position at the top of the ATP men's doubles rankings. At 43, he became the oldest first-time World No 1. But Bopanna is yet to win a men's doubles Grand Slam.
MORE: From singles wilderness to World No 1 in doubles: Rohan Bopanna's journey to the top
His only major title before this came at the 2017 French Open, when he won the mixed doubles along with Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski.
The Bopanna-Ebden combo has been tested thoroughly during the Australian Open fortnight, but they continue to survive. On Thursday, they overcame a second-set surge from their opponents. Bopanna fired an ace on first match point at 9-7, in the third-set tie-break, to make his third Grand Slam men's doubles final.
In the final, Bopanna-Ebden will take on Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori.
Rohan Bopanna-Matt Ebden road to the final:
1st round: beat Marc Polmans-James Duckworth 7-6, 4-6, 7-6
2nd round: beat John Millman-Edward Winter 6-2, 6-4
3rd round: beat 14-Wesley Koolhof-Nikola Mektic 7-6, 7-6
QF: beat Maximo Gonzalez-Andres Molteni 6-4, 7-6
SF: beat Zhang Zhizhen-Tomas Machac6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7)
MORE: Rohan Bopanna rises to World No 1 - How many Indians have taken the top spot
How to watch Australian Open from India?
Sony Sports Network has acquired both the broadcasting and the streaming rights for the first Grand Slam of 2024. Viewers can catch all the action from the Australian Open on the Sony TEN channels, or live stream it on the Sony LIV app/website.
| Date | Time | Match | Tournament | TV | Live Stream |
| January 18, 2024 | 8:00 AM IST | Sumit Nagal vs Shang Juncheng | Australian Open 2024 - Second Round | Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 5, Sony Ten 1 HD, Sony Ten 5 HD | Sony LIV app/website |
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