Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden sail into men's doubles final of Miami Open

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden progressed to the men’s doubles final of the Miami Open with a straight-set win over Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.

Bopanna and Ebden, the Australian Open winners, got the better of Spain’s Granollers and Argentina’s Zeballos 6-1, 6-4 in the semifinals on Thursday night.

Bopanna has become the second Indian, after Leander Paes, to reach the final of all 9 ATP Masters events.

The win ensures Bopanna will return to the top of the world rankings when they’re updated next week. The duo had slipped to World No. 2 after a quarter-final loss at the Dubai Championships and a Round of 32 exit in Indian Wells.

Following the Australian Open triumph, the 44-year-old Bopanna had climbed to the World No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings, becoming the oldest player to do so.

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In the final, Bopanna and Ebden will take on Ivan Dodig of Croatia and American Austin Krajicek, who beat the German duo of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Putz 6-4, 6-7(7), 10-7 in the other semi-final.

For Bopanna, this will be his 14th ATP Masters 1000 final and the first in Miami. Overall, this will be his 63rd ATP Tour level final. He has so far won 25 doubles titles.

This will also be the fifth appearance in an ATP Masters 1000 final for the Bopanna and Ebden pairing.

(with inputs from PTI)