7 September 2023 | Tennis West

Matt Ebden has the chance to become the first Australian in two decades to win a US Open men’s doubles title.

The 35-year-old from Perth and Indian partner Rohan Bopanna will contest the men’s doubles final on day 12 at Flushing Meadows.

The sixth seeds secured their spot in the championship match with a 7-6(3) 6-2 semifinal victory against French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut today at Flushing Meadows.

Five-time major champions Herbert and Mahut made a blistering start, racing to a 4-2 lead and earning a further two break points on Ebden’s serve in the seventh game.

“I think that was a crucial moment there,” Bopanna said. “We held that game and that kept us in the match. I think that was really important.”

It proved a turning point indeed, with world No.11 Ebden and world No.14 Bopanna then winning three consecutive games to wrest back control.

At 5-6 in the first set, Mahut required a medical timeout for heat stress.

The former world No.1 managed to hold after returning, but the momentum belonged to Ebden and Bopanna in the tiebreak.

From there, the sixth seeds romped through the second set to close out a commanding victory in 94 minutes.

They finished the match with 36 winners to their opponent’s 19.

This effort sees Ebden become the 16th Australian – and only the second in the past 20 years – to advance to a US Open men’s doubles final in the Open era.

This is Ebden’s third career Grand Slam men’s doubles final appearance, having previously contested championship matches at Australian Open 2022 and Wimbledon 2022 (both with Max Purcell).

It is the second major doubles final for 43-year-old Bopanna and his first since a runner-up finish at US Open 2010.

“We’ve given ourselves a good opportunity,” Ebden said about their chances of winning their first Grand Slam title as a team.

“We’ve made it through this far, there’s one more to go and we’ll do our best to win it.”

They’ll face No.3 seeds American Rajeev Ram and Brit Joe Salisbury for the title.

World No.5 Ram and world No.6 Salisbury are on an imposing 17-match winning streak at the US Open and looking to become the first team to win three consecutive men’s doubles titles at the tournament in the Open era.

“We’re going to have to execute and play well,” world No.11 Ebden said ahead of the first meeting between these two teams.

“It’s going to be a really tough match.”

If Ebden does win, he’ll become the first Australian to win a US Open men’s doubles title since Todd Woodbridge in 2003.

Men’s doubles, final
[6] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Rohan Bopanna (IND) v [3] Rajeev Ram (USA)/Joe Salisbury (GBR), Arthur Ashe Stadium, day session, first match (from 2am AEST)

US Open men’s doubles Australian finalists – Open era
Player	Year
Ken Rosewall	1969, 1973
Fred Stolle	1969
Roy Emerson	1970
Rod Laver	1970, 1973
John Newcombe	1971, 1972, 1973
Owen Davidson	1972, 1973
Paul Kronk	1976
Cliff Letcher	1976
Peter McNamara	1981
John Fitzgerald	1984, 1991
Mark Woodforde	1989, 1994, 1995, 1996
Todd Woodbridge	1994, 1995, 1996, 2003
Sandon Stolle	1995, 1998
Lleyton Hewitt	2000
John Peers	2015
Matt Ebden	2023