Rohan Bopanna wasted points – and lost the US Open final

Watch the special event in the player above.

43-year-old Rohan Bopanna has had a long and successful career. He is ranked at best as the third best men’s doubles player in the world, but has never won a Grand Slam tournament in the discipline.

But this year he reached the US Open final for the second time. Along with his Australian doubles partner Matthew Ebden, he won the first set 6–2.

The judge hesitated

However, the second set was won by the American-British pair of Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 6-3, so everything will be decided in the third set.

There, at 4-2, 15-0 against Rahm/Salisbury, it looked like Ebden was leading 15-15 on his serve. But then Bopanna pointed to the referee and said that Ebden’s shot hit Bopanna in front of the net. However, after some hesitation, the referee awarded the point to Ram/Salisbury. Then, after Bopanna started walking towards the referee, she asked: “Did you say you wanted to give them the point?”

– Yes, I said that it was taken from me, so it is clear that I am conceding points, then he answered.

“Never seen anything like it”

The judge then changed her decision while praising Bopanna over the loudspeakers.

In the end Ram/Salisbury won the set 6-4 and the final 2-1. However, the headlines then were about Bopanna’s brilliant acting.

– I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen anything like this before, especially in such an important situation when everything is decided. We had no idea the ball hit him. “Much respect,” Rahm said during the awards ceremony.

However, for Bopanna, it was nothing special.

“That’s the kind of person I’ve been throughout my career and I feel that – no matter the position or situation in the game – if something isn’t right, it’s not right,” he says. According to ATP rounds website.