Turin (Italy), Nov 12 India's Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden started the men's doubles competition in the ATP Finals with a straight sets defeat to Italian pair Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in a group stage match here on Monday.
Bopanna and Ebden pair, this year's Australian Open winner, went down to the Italian combine, making its debut in the season finale, which rode on the vociferous support of the home crowd to register a sensational opening win, 6-2, 6-3 in 57 minutes at the Inalpi Arena here.
Bolelli and Vavassori converted three of the eight break points they won, while Bopanna-Ebden had none. They were 85 percent on their first serve, while their rivals could manage only 69%. Bopanna and Ebden also served two double faults, compared to none by the Italian pair.
The Italian pair got off to a good start. They broke serve in the second game and were 3-1 up when Bopanna-Ebden held their serve. Bolelli/Vavassori broke serve again in the eighth game to easily win the first set. They broke serve again in the fourth game to win the second set and clinch a dominant win.
Bopanna and Ebden have been placed in the same group, which includes top seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic. Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz comprise the other pair in the Bob Bryan Group.
Second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos will be the top contenders from the Mike Bryan Group with Wesley Koolhof/Nikola Mektic, Max Purcell/Jordan Thompson, and Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten the other teams in contention for the semifinal spots from this group.
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