Miami Masters: Rohan-Ebden progress to the next round; Yuki exits

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden advanced to the second round of Miami Masters ATP1000 tournament after a hard fought three-set match against Italian pair of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori at the Miami Gardens, Florida, United States on Sunday.

Rohan and Ebden came back from behind (4-6, 7-6, 10-4) to secure the victory against the Italians. This was the second meeting between the two pairs after the historic Australian Open final earlier this year, where Rohan clinched his first ever Grand Slam title in men's doubles.

Rohan Ebden lost the first game 4-6 after fantastic 1st serve performance of Bolelli/Vavassori of 92% but the duo showcased their resilience and tactical brilliance, and put up an impressive comeback and winning second set on a tie breaker 7-6(4).

Rohan and Ebden dominated the super tiebreak and won three mini-breaks to attain a comfortable lead of 9-2, the Italians saved two match points but eventually lost the set, 4-10.

In the previous edition, they were eliminated in the first round, but now they've advanced to the second round, where they'll face the 2023 Australian Open finalists, Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski.

This victory will boost their confidence, especially following consecutive first-round exits in the Dubai ATP and Indian Wells ATP tournaments in the past weeks.

Meanwhile, the Indo-Kiwi pairing of Yuki Bhambri and Michael Venus lost to the 2nd seeded Croatian-American pairing of Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in the first round encounter.

Bhambri & Venus won 63 points as compared to their opponents’ 64, but ended up losing in a straight-set (6-7(5), 4-6) affair. This was Bhambri's debut in  ATP Masters 1000 doubles event.