Ebden’s comfort on grass: “I feel like I’ve just gone into my living room”

Back on one of his favourite surfaces, Matt Ebden begins his build-up to Wimbledon wanting to capitalise on his impressive momentum on the doubles court.

London, UK, 18 June 2024 | Matt Trollope

Fresh off a semifinal at Roland Garros, Matt Ebden is gearing up for another tilt at Wimbledon when he kicks off his grass-court campaign this week at Queen’s Club.

The doubles world No.1 teams with Rohan Bopanna as the top-seeded duo, opening against a pair of qualifiers in the first round.

The rapid switch between surfaces at opposite ends of the spectrum – gritty, slow clay to slick, quick grass – is perhaps one of the most extreme adjustments required in professional sport.

But for Ebden, it’s no problem.

“For me, not so much, because growing up and playing a lot of my junior tennis in Perth, I played a lot of club and league tennis on grass,” he said this week on The Sit-Down podcast.

LISTEN: The Sit-Down with Matt Ebden

“So I step on a grass court and I feel like I’ve just gone into my living room at home. It feels that comfortable, I feel so natural.

“For me (the transition challenge) is probably the opposite; when you finish Miami on the hard courts and then you go onto the clay that first week, just doing that training going onto the clay – all those specific movement and drill patterns for the body, adapting that way – is probably the biggest one for me.

“But going back onto the grass is really natural and it’s always a fun, exciting time for me. So I love it.”

A Wimbledon doubles champion in 2022 with fellow Aussie Max Purcell, Ebden this year is enjoying a fruitful partnership with Bopanna and together they are prioritising the biggest events.

They have already won the Australian Open and Miami Masters titles, and built a 20-7 win-loss record after advancing to the last four in Paris.

A three-set loss to Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori – their opponents in the AO 2024 final – in the Roland Garros semifinals still allowed Ebden to reclaim the No.1 doubles ranking, but left the 36-year-old with mixed feelings.

“To go pretty deep (in Paris) was nice, we played well, I was sort of happy with getting through there, but then on the flip side, to lose the semi and feel like you were actually so close and really could have been one set away from the final and one match away from winning it, was then really bittersweet actually,” he admitted.

“It was a hard few days to digest that, as much as I was happy being in that position as well. It’s sort of the good and bad thing about tennis; anytime you get a really good result, you’re sort of happy with it, but then at the same time you’re like, ‘oh, it’s a missed opportunity’.

“I obviously want to try and capitalise and try and win all these Slams now, now’s the time. We’re not getting any younger, no time like the present.

“We’re at the peak, at the top of our games. So it’s the time for that.”