Rohan Bopanna and his Australian men's doubles partner Matthew Ebden started their ATP Finals campaign on a losing note, suffering a straight-set defeat in a group stage match in Turin, Italy.
Bopanna and Ebden were defeated by the Italian duo of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 2-6, 3-6 in just 56 minutes on Monday. The Indo-Australian pair had defeated their opponents in this year's Australian Open final.
Bolelli and Vavassori, the fourth seeds, dominated from the outset, breaking their rivals in the second game.
A double fault by the Indo-Australian pair in the eighth game allowed the Italians to secure another break of serve, further thwarting any hopes of a comeback.
Buoyed
Bopanna, who is appearing in the tournament for the fourth time, and Ebden, struggled to match their Italian opponents, failing to earn even a single break point throughout the match.
The serving woes added to their difficulties, as they won only 58% of points (19 out of 33) on their first serve and 47% (7 out of 15) on their second.
In contrast, the Italians were far more efficient, winning 89% of points on their first serve (31 out of 35) and 83% on their second (5 out of 6).
Additionally, Bopanna and Ebden committed two double faults, both of which led to breaks of serve.
The defeat marked Bopanna and Ebden's third consecutive defeat to the Italians this year.
Bopanna and Ebden lie fourth in the Bob Bryan Group. They will take on top seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Croatian Mate Pavic in their next group game on Wednesday. They had reached the semi-finals in the last edition.
