Ebden makes 'pipe dream' come true, climbs to doubles World No. 1

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Matthew Ebden remembers Wimbledon in 2010, when he first appeared at the grass-court major as a 22-year-old. The Australian asked former doubles World No. 1 Todd Woodbridge, a nine-time men’s doubles champion at the tournament, if he could show him the trophies and the entrance to Centre Court.

Nearly 14 years years later, Ebden on Monday became one of only five Australians who have reached No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings. The other four are Woodbridge, Mark Woodforde, John Fitzgerald and Paul McNamee.

“It's quite surreal. I thought even that list of Australians who had been No. 1 in doubles would have been a longer list,” Ebden told ATPTour.com. “There were a few guys I guess, who were No. 2 or 3 or guys who had won Grand Slams like Newcombe and Roche and Peter McNamara and a lot of other guys, but never quite reached No. 1. So it's quite a small, esteemed list.

“I'm incredibly honoured to be a part of that list and to be starting to win multiple Grand Slams now.”

Ebden and his partner, Rohan Bopanna, have surged to the top of the sport since beginning their partnership last season. They won the Australian Open last month, setting the stage for Bopanna to first reach World No. 1 and Ebden has now swapped places with the 43-year-old.

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“I think it's truly deserved for Matt to become World No. 1,” Bopanna said. “Both of us reaching that would not have happened without each other's support. On court he brings the calmness and solidarity which helps us as a team and helps me bring out my aggressive style of play, also. Congratulations to Matt for achieving the World No. 1 ranking.”

Ebden said: “For me to tick over this week to No. 1 outright in the rankings, it's obviously been a lot of hard work and sacrifice. But I'm just grateful it's happened relatively quickly these past two, three years, winning Slams, and getting to No. 1 on my doubles journey.”

The Australian only began focussing on doubles after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. He enjoyed a singles career that lasted more than a decade, during which he climbed as high as No. 39 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings and reached an ATP Tour final (2017 Newport).

In 2018, Ebden attained his career-high ranking. But by the start of the following year, he struggled with a foot injury that kept him out for more than three months. It was tough to find form after that and he finished his season with a 5-16 tour-level record.

So when the pandemic caused the suspension of the Tour in March 2020, Ebden’s Pepperstone ATP Ranking was well outside the Top 200. In that moment, the prospect of battling back to the Top 100 was daunting. It would have taken a significant amount of time to work back through the ATP Challenger Tour and there was no guarantee he would do it.

However, Ebden’s Pepperstone ATP Doubles Ranking remained close to the Top 100, providing him a more feasible path to competing in the biggest tournaments in the world. He also felt his all-court game catered to doubles.

“I served well, returned well, I came in a lot, I came forward, came to the net, used the serve-volley,” Ebden said. “Even throughout my career, while I was playing singles, I managed to win quite a few doubles titles, and even a Grand Slam in mixed doubles in Australia.”

So when Ebden made the decision to turn his attention to doubles, it was not just to survive on Tour. The Australian had big dreams for his newest chapter.

“I knew the way I played tennis translated really well onto the doubles court,” Ebden said. “In the back of my mind, I sort of thought at the end of my career, I might have another little sub-career of five years or more where I could really have a crack at just doubles, and really focus on it, and try and do some great things and try and win some Slams.

“I don't even know if I thought about getting to World No. 1 then. It’s a bit of a pipe dream, that sort of thing, even winning Slams.”

Ebden partnered countryman Max Purcell to the 2022 Australian Open final and has been near the top of the sport ever since. The Australians won Wimbledon later that year and in 2023, Ebden began playing with Bopanna.

The 2023 Nitto ATP Finals competitors have consistently played well at the world’s biggest tournaments and their Australian Open triumph was the biggest of their partnership.

“When I set out on this specific doubles journey in the past two or three years, and even started having good success, it has definitely been one of my really big, big goals," Ebden said. "To win Slams and get to No. 1."

The 36-year-old has been home in Perth since the Australian Open, enjoying time with family and friends after one of the most memorable moments of his career. Just a few days ago, he flew to Dubai and for the first time will compete as the No. 1 doubles player in the world.

“It gives you sort of tingles or chills,” Ebden said. “And to be known as that or someone who's achieved that, it's really special.”

Woodbridge wrote on Instagram last week captioning a photo of him and Ebden in front of Wimbledon trophies: “It was before the tournament and to try and explain and inspire… and the rest is history congrats Matt.. very proud of you.. Teddy.”