Matt Ebden scores a first-round win in the Wimbledon 2024 men’s doubles competition alongside Indian partner Rohan Bopanna.
London, Great Britain, 4 July 2024 | Leigh Rogers
Savouring the moment is the focus for Matt Ebden at Wimbledon this year.
The 36-year-old from Perth is competingĀ at the prestigious grass-court Grand Slam for the first time as the worldās top-ranked doubles player.
āTo be the No.1 player in the world in the draw is very cool,ā Ebden told tennis.com.au after completing a first-round menās doubles win alongside Indian Rohan Bopanna today.
āItās something we aspire to our whole life and career. Youāre constantly pushing, climbing, evaluating, reviewing and improving. Now to be able to sit there at the top of the mountain and enjoy it for a moment, itās kind of nice.ā
Since switching his focus to full-time doubles in 2022, Ebden has enjoyed a meteoric rise up the ATP Tour rankings.
He was the world No.31Ā when he won the Wimbledon menās doubles title with compatriot Max Purcell in 2022 and had improved to world No.16 whenĀ he progressed to the semifinals the following year alongside Bopanna.
Now sitting at No.1, Ebden returns to Wimbledon as the first top-ranked AustralianĀ menās doubles player since Todd Woodbridge 23 years earlier.
āI think as I got more into my 30s I started to take stock and started to make sure I enjoyed things a lot more,ā said the enduring Ebden, who contested his first Wimbledon in 2010.
āItās an important part of life, being grateful for what youāre doing and what you have. Then also remembering to celebrate and savour those moments.ā
Originally scheduled to face French combination Adrian Mannarino andĀ GiovanniĀ Mpetshi Perricard in their first-round match today, Ebden and Bopanna discovered during their warm-up they would play an alternate team instead.
āIt was a whirlwind,ā Ebden explained, as their coaches chased information on who would replace the French pair in the draw.
The second seeds and reigning Australian Open champions ended up facing a Dutch duo, world No.78Ā Sander Arends and world No.56 Robin Haase.
āThey are very accomplished doubles players, so I donāt know if our draw got easier or tougher,ā Ebden said. āThen dealing with the rain delays too, it was a tricky day.ā
Yet Ebden and Bopanna handled these challenges with aplomb, carving out aĀ 7-5 6-4 victory to making a winning start to their campaign.
Aussies in action ā Wimbledon
RESULTS
Menās doubles, first round
[2] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) d [Alt] Sander Arends (NED)/Robin Haase (NED) 7-5 6-4
COMING UP
Menās doubles, first round
[15] Max Purcell (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [WC] Jay Clarke (GBR)/Marcus Willis (GBR)
Rinky Hijikata (AUS)/John Peers (AUS) v [WC] Andy Murray (GBR)/Jamie Murray (GBR)
John-Patrick Smith (AUS)/Andreas Mies (GER) v VictorĀ Cornea (ROU)/FabianĀ Marozsan (HUN)
Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS)/Denis Shapovalov (CAN) v Nicolas Mahut (FRA)/SkanderĀ Mansouri (TUN)
Menās doubles, second round
[2] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) v Constantin Frantzen (GER)/Hendrik Jebens (GER)
> VIEW: Wimbledon 2024 menās doubles draw
Womenās doubles, first round
[3] Ellen Perez (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v [WC] Sarah Beth Grey (GBR)/Tara Moore (GBR)
Daria Saville (AUS)/Yuan Yue (CHN) v [9] Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)/Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)
> VIEW: Wimbledon 2024 womenās doubles draw
Mixed doubles, first round
[1] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Ellen Perez (AUS) v Andres Molteni (ARG)/Asia Muhammad (USA)
John Peers (AUS)/Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) v [3] Mate Pavic (CRO)/Lyudmyla Kichenok (UKR)
Max Purcell (AUS)/Dayana Yastremska (UKR) v Nathaniel Lammons (USA)/Ena Shibahara (JPN)
> VIEW: Wimbledon 2024 mixed doubles draw
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