Rohan Bopanna, Matthew Ebden Suffer Second Straight Loss In ATP Finals

Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden's hopes of making the semifinals at the ATP Finals 2024 are all but over following their second straight defeat on Wednesday. The sixth-seeded Indo-Aussie duo went down 5-7, 3-6 to the top-seeded pair of Marcelo Arevalo from El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia in a 68-minute contest, placing them at the bottom of the standings in the Bob Bryan group.

This tournament marks the last for Bopanna and Ebden as a team, concluding their two-year partnership.

Earlier, they suffered a loss against the home favorites Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in their opening match.

Bopanna and Ebden will next face Germany's Kevin Krawietz and Tim Putz in their final group-stage match, but their chances of advancing to the semifinals are slim.

The duo climbed to the No. 1 spot in the ATP Rankings after clinching the Australian Open title earlier this year.

Despite a mid-season slump, they earned their spot in the ATP Finals reaching the semifinals at Roland Garros.

Notably, Bopanna made history in January becoming the oldest player to reach World No. 1 at the age of 43. He has twice won at the prestigious season-ending event.

Alcaraz wins

Carlos Alcaraz opened his account at the ATP Finals on Wednesday with an entertaining 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) win over Andrey Rublev which boosted his hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

World number three Alcaraz comfortably defeated Rublev to lift himself off the bottom of the John Newcombe Group and looked in much better form despite struggling with fatigue and illness in the lead-up to the match.

There had been some doubt as to whether Alcaraz, who lost his opening match in straight sets to Casper Ruud, would continue in Turin after quickly ending his training session on Tuesday, with his coach Juan Carlos Ferrero saying that he had trouble breathing.

"I could be better, I'm not going to lie," said Alcaraz on court after beating Rublev. 

"I've been struggling with my health the last week and today I thought I was going to feel better. I was OK to play, but thinking about the first match I was thinking a lot about that I was sick, that I couldn't play.

"Today I really wanted to step on the court and just think about tennis, try to play a high level... When I played the first match I felt like I did not entertain the people, I did not play good tennis."

With AFP inputs