The second-seeded pair of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden suffered a shocking loss in the third round of the US Open men's doubles category as it went down to Argentina's Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni in 66 minutes.
The defeat has put an end to India's challenge in the men's doubles event of the US Open. The match got underway with a display of dominant tennis played by the Argentine pair. Molteni and Gonzalez took the first set easily 6-1, breaking the Indo-Aussie pair several times in the process.
Bopanna and Ebden made a strong comeback in the second set but their adversaries seized the crunch moments and won it 7-5 to avoid a tie-break.
Notably, Bopanna has already announced his retirement from Davis Cup and he won't be seen in action for India anymore. His last appearance for India came at the Paris Olympics where he had paired up with N Sriram Balaji. The Bopanna-Balaji pair wasn't able to go beyond the opening round and was eliminated after a 7-5, 6-2 loss at the hands of Frenchmen Gael Monfils and Édouard Roger-Vasselin in 76 minutes.
"This will definitely go down as my last event for the country,” Bopanna had told PTI after the end of his campaign in Paris.
"I totally understand where I am and now, I am just going to be enjoying the tennis circuit as long as that goes
"This is already a big bonus for where I am. I never even thought that I'd be representing India for two decades. Right from 2002, making my debut and 22 years later, I am still getting to represent India. I'm extremely proud of that.”
Interstingly, Bopanna and Ebden are the reigning Australian Open champions in the men's doubles category but it is still not clear whether they will team up together to defend their title next year.
