Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden faced defeat in their opening match of the ATP Finals 2024 on November 11. The Indo-Australian pair lost to the Italian duo of Simone Boleli and Andrea Vavassori in straight sets (6-2,6-3) during their group stage match on Centre Court.
Italian pair dominates early
Boleli and Vavassori took control right from the start, breaking early to lead 2-0 in the first set. They added another break to ensure Bopanna and Ebden had no chances for a comeback. The second set followed a similar pattern, with the Italian pair breaking their opponents’ serve and sealing the win in just 56 minutes, 6-2, 6-3.
The loss leaves Bopanna and Ebden without any points in the Bob Bryan Group, while earlier, the German pair of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz defeated Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-4 to top their group.
Unstoppable serving from the Italians
Boleli and Vavassori’s serving was near flawless, winning 89% of points on their first serves (31 out of 35) and 83% on their second serves (5 out of 6). In contrast, Bopanna and Ebden struggled with their serves, committing two double faults during the match.
Ruud upsets Alcaraz in singles
In the singles match, Casper Ruud caused a major upset by beating Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 7-5. Despite Alcaraz’s recent success at the French Open and Wimbledon, he struggled early in the match and couldn’t force a third set.
ATP Finals format
The ATP Finals follow a round-robin format, where eight players or teams are split into two groups of four. Each player/team plays three matches against others in their group. In singles, matches are best-of-three tie-break sets, including the final.
In doubles, the first two sets are tie-break sets with no advantage, and the final set is a match tie-break. After the round-robin stage, the top two players/teams from each group move on to the semi-finals.
The winners of the semi-finals then compete in the final to decide the champion.
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