US Open 2023 Highlights: Rohan Bopanna/Matt Ebden beat Aleksandar Vukic/Christopher O'Connell in straight sets to advance

Welcome to the Khel Now’s live blog for the Rohan Bopanna/Matt Ebden vs Aleksandar Vukic/Christopher O’Connell men’s doubles round 1 match in US Open 2023.

US Open 2023 has had an exciting start with few upsets in both men’s and women’s singles. The doubles category will, however, start today and Rohan Bopanna, who is one of India’s only three representatives in the US Open 2023 main draw, is set to be in action. Bopanna and his doubles partner Matthew Ebden will face Aussie pair Christopher O’Connell and Aleksandar Vukic in the opening round of men’s doubles.

Indo-Aussie duo Bopanna and Ebden are seeded sixth in Flushing Meadows. The pair have been in good form in the current calendar year reaching the Wimbledon semifinals, Madrid Masters final and also winning the Indian Wells title. Bopanna also achieved a career-high ranking of World No. 7 — his best since 2013.

Preview 

Although Rohan Bopanna has since lost that position, he is currently ranked 14th — an improvement of five positions from when the season began. In 2022, Bopanna experienced trouble with his knee and had to withdraw from few competitions, including the Davis Cup. But this year has seen the veteran player at his best.

He became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion in history after winning Indian Wells Masters in March with Ebden. Bopanna and Ebden also triumphed at the Qatar Open in February and progressed to the Madrid Masters final in May.

Bopanna entered the top 10 for the first time since June 2016 thanks to a favourable run of results. But he dropped to 12th place before Wimbledon, before once again rising in the rankings by reaching the semifinals at the All England Club.

The duo later reached the quarterfinals of the Canadian Open but lost against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos. Most recently they bowed out from the opening round of the Cincinnati Masters.

About the opponents

Aleksander Vukic and Christopher O’Connell will be partnering for the first time in nearly two years. The pair last played together as a pair at the Adelaide International in 2021. Vukic partnered with Andrew Harris in the Atlanta Open but were knocked out from the opening round. He reached the final of the Surbiton Trophy alongside Alexie Popyrin and the quarterfinals of the Seoul ATP Challenger, alongside Gabriel Diallo. These were the best results for Vukic this year so far. 

His partner Christopher O’Connell reached the quarterfinals of the Bavarian International alongside Albano Olivetti, his only decent result of the season.

Head-to-head record 

This will be the first time both pairs will meet against each other.

Prediction

As the sixth-seeded pair, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden will head into this men’s doubles opening round tie as the outright favourites. While the Indo-Aussie duo have the experience of playing together for more than a year now, their opponents Vukic/O’Connell are pairing up for the first time in years. The huge gap in rankings between them and the Australian pair also make Bopanna-Ebden favourites to progress to the next round.

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