Matthew Ebden
Matthew Ebden is an Australian professional tennis player who reached a career high of world No. 1 in doubles.
Ebden is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2022 Wimbledon Championships and 2024 Australian Open in doubles with Max Purcell and Rohan Bopanna respectively, and the 2013 Australian Open in mixed doubles alongside Jarmila Gajdošová. Ebden won an Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics with John Peers.
Ebden also finished runner-up at the 2022 Australian Open and 2023 US Open in men's doubles with Purcell and Bopanna respectively, and the 2021 Australian Open and 2022 Wimbledon Championships in mixed doubles partnering Samantha Stosur. He became world No. 1 for the first time in February 2024, the first Australian to top the doubles rankings since Todd Woodbridge in 2001, and has won 13 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, including the 2023 Indian Wells Masters and 2024 Miami Open.
In singles, Ebden reached his highest ranking of world No. 39 in October 2018, and finished runner-up at the 2017 Hall of Fame Championships. He achieved his best major result at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships, reaching the third round. Ebden has represented Australia in the Davis Cup since 2012, and won the bronze medal in singles at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Personal life
Ebden was born in Durban, South Africa to Charles and Ann Ebden. He attended Hale School in Wembley Downs. Ebden is currently studying for a commerce degree while playing tennis professionally full-time. In Perth, Ebden plays State Grade for Wembley Downs Tennis Club as the number one player in the Tennis West State League. He married Kim Doig, a lawyer, on 16 November 2012, in Margaret River, Western Australia. Ebden became a father in February 2022 when his son was born. Ebden is a member of the Sorrento and Wembley Down Tennis Clubs in Perth.Career
Ebden spent much of his early career on the futures tour attempting to improve his ranking. It was not until the end of 2009 that Ebden had consistent results on the futures tour after making the final of the last four tournaments he entered in 2009, taking out three of the four titles.Early career
In January 2007, Ebden competed in the qualifying tournament for the Australian Open. He defeated Richard Bloomfield of Great Britain in the first round of qualifying 6–3, 5–7, 8–6. He was defeated in the following round 2–6, 4–6 to Serbian player Ilija Bozoljac. Ebden won his first Futures event at the USA F21 event which began in August 2007. He defeated American Michael Yani in the final 3–6, 6–1, 7–5. Ebden played in the qualifying event for the Australian Open for the second year in a row in January 2008. He lost to Flavio Cipolla of Italy in his first match 3–6, 6–4, 3–6. Ebden won his second Futures tournament at the Korea F2 event beginning in May 2008. He defeated Toshihide Matsui of Japan in the final 6–4, 7–5. For the third year running, Ebden participated in the qualifying event for the Australian Open in January 2009. He won his first match against Italian Giancarlo Petrazzuolo 6–3, 6–3. He lost to Michael Berrer of Germany in his following match 4–6, 6–3, 1–6. In October 2009, Ebden won his third Futures event at Australia F8. He defeated British player Jamie Baker in the final 6–2, 6–4. He was also triumphant in his next tournament, Australia F9, which began in November 2009. He won 6–3, 6–4 in the final against fellow Australian John Millman. At Australia F11, which began in November 2009, Ebden won his fifth Futures title. He defeated fellow Australian James Lemke 6–1, 6–1 in the final.2010
Ebden began 2010 by qualifying for the Brisbane International defeating Marinko Matosevic, another Australian, 6–2, 6–2. In the main draw, he was drawn against sixth seed and world number 28 Jürgen Melzer of Austria in the first round and caused a huge upset by winning in straight sets 7–5, 6–1. He was then defeated in the second round by Richard Gasquet 6–3, 6–4. At the Australian Open, he qualified defeating Michał Przysiężny In the final round of qualification 7–5, 6–2, He lost in the first round to world number 12 Gaël Monfils 4–6, 4–6, 4–6. He mainly played in the challenger circuit and reached the final of the Japan Indoor Tennis Championships losing to Yūichi Sugita 4–6, 6–4, 6–1. He then entered the qualifying draws of Roland Garros and Wimbledon and lost in the first round to Yuri Schukin 4–6, 4–6 and qualifying round to Taylor Dent 6–4, 6–7, 6–7, 3–6, respectively. At the US Open he lost Nicolas Mahut 3–6, 2–6 in the first round of the qualifying draw. Ebden represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games, he advanced to the semifinals defeating Patrick Ogier, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan 6–4, 7–5, and Joshua Goodall, but lost to number one seed Somdev Devvarman 3–6, 1–6. Edben ended up winning the bronze medal by beating fellow Australian and second seed Peter Luczak in straight sets 6–3, 6–3 in the third place play-off. Ebden won his sixth Futures event at Great Britain F16, defeating Britain's Daniel Evans 6–2, 3–6, 6–3. Ebden participated in the Australian Open Playoffs for a chance into the maindraw of the 2011 Australian Open. Ebden was the 4th seed. He defeated Benjamin Mitchell and Samuel Groth. This put Ebden in the final 4 of the tournament. He lost his semi final match to Peter Luczak 6–2, 1–6, 6–7.2011: Breakthrough and first Masters quarterfinal
Ebden began 2011 in a similar fashion to 2010 by being entered in the qualifying draw for the Brisbane International and qualified. In the first round of the main draw he was drawn against another Australian wildcard John Millman and won in three sets 4–6, 6–2, 6–4. His second round match was against world number 40 and eighth seed Denis Istomin and produced a huge upset by winning 6–4, 6–4 despite being 156 places below Istomin in the ATP rankings. He was eventually defeated in the quarterfinals by world number 5 and eventual champion Robin Söderling 3–6, 2–6. He was then given a wildcard into the main draw of the Medibank International Sydney. He lost to fifth seed Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the first round 4–6, 3–6. The next week, he played in the Australian Open after being given a wildcard into the main draw. He lost in the first round to American Michael Russell 3–6, 2–6, 7–5, 6–7. At the BNP Paribas Open was able to qualify to the main draw just to lose to Mischa Zverev. He also qualified for the Aegon Championships, defeating Somdev Devvarman in the first round before losing to world no. 1 Rafael Nadal in the following round. At the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, Ebden caused a major upset in the first round against 4th seed Ryan Sweeting by winning the match 6–4, 6–2. Ebden then followed it up with a three set win over Matthias Bachinger 2–6, 6–4, 6–4. Ebden lost to 6th seed Olivier Rochus 6–7, 3–6 in the quarterfinals. Ebden teamed with American Ryan Harrison to win the doubles title. He followed it up with another doubles title at the Atlanta Tennis Championships where he partnered with yet another American Alex Bogomolov Jr. He then competed at the Citi Open and qualified. He won his first match against Rajeev Ram, but lost to Nikolay Davydenko in the second round. At the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships Ebden went through the qualifying stages to get acceptance into the main draw. In the main draw Ebden drew Spaniard Pablo Andújar and progressed to win the match 6–7, 6–4, 6–4. Ebden's run came to an end at that stage where he lost to the 3rd seed David Ferrer 6–4, 2–6, 2–6. At the Shanghai Rolex Masters, Ebden was the 14th seed in the qualifying draw and qualified for the main draw. In the first round Ebden won for the 2nd time in a week 6–4, 6–4 against Pablo Andújar of Spain. Ebden then went on to defeat Ryan Harrison 6–4, 6–2 and then 8th seed and former World No. 6 Gilles Simon 6–2, 2–6, 7–6. Ebden eventually lost in straight sets 3–6, 2–6 to the World No. 4, second seed, defending and eventual champion, Andy Murray in the quarterfinals. Because of Ebden's surprise run at the event. he went up to 80 in the world. Ebden ended the year at 86. Ebden also played at a local level in his home state Western Australia, playing for Wembley Downs Tennis Club in the 2011-12 Tennis West State League season and the Asia-Pacific Tennis League, where he went undefeated winning eight singles and doubles matches.2012: First Grand Slam doubles quarterfinal at the French Open
Ebden's first tournament of the year was the Brisbane International. In the first round, Ebden lost to seventh seed Radek Štěpánek in three sets 4–6, 6–3, 3–6. Ebden's next event was the Apia International Sydney where he competed as a wildcard. In the first round, Ebden upset seventh seeded Spaniard, Marcel Granollers in three sets 6–1, 3–6, 6–3 before losing to Marcos Baghdatis 6–3, 5–7, 6–7 in the second round. Ebden reached the final in doubles with Jarkko Nieminen but lost to the Bryan brothers. Ebden's next event was 2012 Australian Open where he lost in the second round to Kei Nishikori despite leading two sets to love 6–3, 6–1, 4–6, 1–6, 1–6 after defeating João Souza in straight sets. Ebden made his debut for the Australia in Davis Cup against China, Ebden replaced Tomic to play Ya-Nan Ma in a dead rubber where he was victorious 6–4, 6–2. He then played at the SAP Open he was victorious in the first round against Dudi Sela 6–7, 6–2, 7–6, but lost to Kevin Anderson in the following round in straight sets. He then fell in the qualifying round of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships and first round of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. At the BNP Paribas Open, Ebden entered the qualifying draw and qualified. In the first round, he faced Russian Igor Kunitsyn and won in three sets 6–1, 4–6, 6–4. He backed it up with another three set win over France's Julien Benneteau 2–6, 6–3, 6–2. In the third round he faced world no. 8 Mardy Fish and produced an upset with a straight set win 6–3, 6–4. He fell in the fourth round to John Isner in two tight sets 4–6, 5–7. Ebden then only manage to win one match between Indian Wells and the grass season and this was at the Davis Cup, where he played first live rubber match against Suk-Young Jeong and won the match 6–3, 6–3, 6–4.Despite reaching the second round of the Queen's Club Championships losing to eventual champion Marin Čilić, Ebden then lost three consecutive first round matches, at the Aegon International as a qualifier, at Wimbledon, and at the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. Ebden then bounced back by reached the quarterfinals of the BB&T Atlanta Open defeating Sergey Bubka and James Blake in three sets, before losing to Gilles Müller. He also won the doubles title with Ryan Harrison. He then reached the second round of the Farmers Classic falling to Xavier Malisse and first round of the Citi Open losing to Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo. Ebden qualified for the Rogers Cup and defeated Peter Polansky 0–6, 6–4, 6–3. He then failed to qualify for the Western & Southern Open and Winston-Salem Open.
At the final slam of the year, the US Open, Ebden defeated Tatsuma Ito in straight sets, before losing to Jérémy Chardy in straight sets as well. He reached the second round of Proton Malaysian Open losing to another Frenchman Julien Benneteau. Ebden qualified for the China Open, but lost in the first round to Richard Gasquet. At the Shanghai Rolex Masters, Ebden was defending a quarterfinal, but lost in the first round of the qualifying draw. This results pushed Ebden from 67 to 120 in the rankings. He then made it to back to back second rounds at the Erste Bank Open and Swiss Indoors Basel. Ebden's final match was a loss in the first round of the qualifying draw of the BNP Paribas Masters.