New York, USA, 8 September 2023 | Leigh Rogers

Matt Ebden and Rohan Bopanna have fallen just short in their quest to win the US Open 2023 men’s doubles title.

American Rajeev Ram and Brit Joe Salisbury recorded a hard-fought 2-6 6-3 6-4 victory against Ebden and Bopanna in today’s championship match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It is world No.5 Ram and world No.6 Salisbury’s 18th consecutive win at the tournament and makes them the first team in the Open era to win three straight US Open men’s doubles titles.

History made. 🙌

Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury are the first to ever 3-peat at the US Open. pic.twitter.com/UoWh5KlCVF

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 8, 2023

Contesting their first Grand Slam final as a team, Ebden and Indian partner Bopanna made an almost perfect start.

The sixth seeds broke Ram’s opening service game to love and won nine of the first 10 points, piling early pressure on their third-seeded opponents.

Brilliant returning helped Ebden and Bopanna strike again in the seventh game, breaking Salisbury’s serve to move ahead 5-2.

From there, world No.11 Ebden and world No.14 Bopanna closed out the opening set in a brisk 31 minutes. They tallied 15 winners to four and won 100 per cent of first-service points.

The second set proved a little tighter, with games going on serve until Bopanna was broken in the sixth game.

With the momentum now in their favour, Ram and Salisbury levelled the match at one-set apiece.

Both teams saved multiple break-point opportunities early in the high-stakes deciding set, before Ram and Salisbury edged ahead by breaking Bopanna’s serve again in the fifth game.

This advantage was enough to help them close out victory in a high-quality two-hour encounter.

Ebden was aiming to become the 10th Australian to win a US Open men’s doubles title in the Open era and the first Aussie champion since Todd Woodbridge captured the crown in 2003 alongside Swede Jonas Bjorkman.

The 35-year-old from Perth is still proud of their efforts, acknowledging there are lots of positives to build on.

“We started playing this year, we’re nine months in,” Ebden said of his partnership with Bopanna.

“To get to our first Slam final, after semifinals at Wimbledon, we’re obviously going pretty well … But it wasn’t quite enough today.”

After recording his career-best result in New York, Ebden is set to rise to a new career-high ranking of world No.8.

Aussies in action – US Open

RESULTS
Men’s doubles, final
[3] Rajeev Ram (USA)/Joe Salisbury (GBR) d [6] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) 2-6 6-3 6-4

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