The doubles pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden were unable to find their best level on Wednesday, succumbing in a grueling opening round battle against Mate Pavić and Marcelo Arévalo at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Bopanna and Ebden struggled early, dropping the opener 3-6 as the Croatian-Salvadoran duo came out firing on all cylinders with their aggressive play.
However, the experienced Bopanna and his Australian partner Ebden regrouped well, sticking to their tactics. Bopanna’s thunderous serves and Ebden’s crisp volleys helped them wrestle back some control in the second set, but Pavić/Arévalo fought back hard to force a tiebreak after leveling the second set 6-6.
In the tensely-fought tie-breaker, Bopanna/Ebden saved two match points, but it was Pavić and Arévalo who just about held their nerve better to edge through and win the second set 7-6(6) after an intense battle.
It was an agonizingly close defeat for Bopanna and Ebden, who bounced back impressively from the opening set only to just come up short in the second set tiebreak against the in-form duo.