Matthew Ebden

Personal life

Ebden was born in Durban, South Africa to Charles and Ann Ebden. 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. He married Kim Doig, a lawyer, on 16 November 2012, in Margaret River, Western Australia.

Career

Ebden spent much of his early career on the futures tour attempting to rise 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^(1–8), 6–7^(8–10), 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 quarter-final appearance

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^(7–9). 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^(5–7), 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^(4-7), 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^(10–8). Ebden eventually lost in straight sets 3–6, 2–6 to the World No. 4, second seed and defending 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.

2012

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^(3–7) 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^(7–9), 6–2, 7–6^(7–1), 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. Ebdem then only manage to win 1 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 Aegon Championships losing to eventual champion Marin Čilić. Ebden then lost 3 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 Sergei 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.

2013

Edben started 2013, ranked at world number 105 and began with three first round losses, at the Brisbane International, Apia International Sydney, and a five set loss at the Australian Open to Mikhail Youzhny despite winning the first two sets. However, he won the mixed doubles title with compatriot Jarmila Gajdošová and in doing so, won his first grand slam title and first mixed doubles title. This win made Ebden and Gajdošová the third all Australian pairing to win the Australian Open mixed doubles title and the first since 2005 when Samantha Stosur and Scott Draper won that title. He then competed in tournaments on the American hardcourts. He lost in the second round of the SAP Open, qualifying round of the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships, and the first round of the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships. He qualified for the BNP Paribas Open losing to Grigor Dimitrov in the second round and lost in the first round of qualifying at the Sony Open Tennis. This results made his ranking dropped to number 137. Ebden then played on the Challenger circuit and made three consecutive quarterfinals. He then won the first Challenger title of his career at the Aegon Trophy defeating Benjamin Becker in the final. He lost in the first round of singles in the main draw of Wimbledon against Kei Nishikori and the second round of doubles with Jamie Delgado after receiving a wildcard into both events. He went on to lose in the first round of the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships to countryman Lleyton Hewitt. Ebden then reached the second rounds of Claro Open Colombia and BB&T Atlanta Open. At the American Challengers he lost in the finals of the Napa Valley Challenger to Donald Young and at the Tiburon Challenger to Peter Polansky. Ebden then played four Challenger events in Australia and Asia. He won three events at the Melbourne Challenger defeating Tatsuma Ito Keio Challenger defeating Go Soeda and the Dunlop World Challenge defeating Yūichi Sugita. Ebden ended the year at number 68, his highest year-end ranking in his career.

2014

Ebden began his year at the 2014 Brisbane International where he won his opening round over lucky loser Alex Kuznetsov after Nick Kyrgios had to withdraw with a shoulder injury. Ebden lost in the second round against second seed Kei Nishikori. He was also awarded a wildcard into the 2014 Apia International Sydney where he lost against Julien Benneteau in the first round. Ebden will then take part in the 2014 Australian Open as a direct entry. Defeated Nicolas Mahut in R1 of the 2014 Australian Open in 5 sets before losing to Vasek Pospisil in 4 sets on Rod Laver Arena. Ebden then lost in the first round at ATP tour events in Memphis, Delray Beach, Acapulco and Indian Wells. He had better success in doubles at Acapulco where he partnered Kevin Anderson and the pair won the title. It was Ebden's first ATP tour 500 doubles title. Ebden then played at the Miami Masters and defeated Łukasz Kubot in the first round before losing to world number 6 Andy Murray in 3 sets.

Ebden then started his clay court season with a string of first round losses at ATP tournaments. Firstly in Houston where he lost to eventual semi-finalist Santiago Giraldo and in Bucharest where he again lost to an eventual semi-finalist which was Robin Haase. He then contested the Portugal Open where he lost to Somdev Devvarman. Following this, he played in Nice where he lost to defending champipon and eventual semi-finalist Albert Montañés. At the French Open, Ebden lost in round 1 to Pablo Cuevas in straight sets

Ebden played his first tournament on grass in London where he lost to Lukáš Lacko. Following this he played at the Topshelf Open where he defeated Adrian Mannarino before losing to 3rd seed and eventual champion Roberto Bautista Agut. Ebden then played at Wimbledon where he unluckily drew World number 9 and eventual semi-finalist Milos Raonic. He lost in straight sets.

He contested the US Open where he defeated Tobias Kamke in the first round before losing to 26th seed Leonardo Mayer. Following a string of first round losses and injuries, Ebden finished the year ranked 231st in the world in Singles and 89th in Doubles.

2015

Ebden commenced the year attempting to qualify for the Australian Open but lost in round 1 to Matthias Bachinger. Ebden then competed in a series of Challenger events throughout February and March in Hong Kong, Burnie, Launceston, Shimadzu, Guangzhou, Shezhen and Israel with limited success. In April, Ebden made the quarter finals of the Batman Challenger in Turkey before three consecutive Challenger semi-finals in Santaizi, Karshi and Samarkand in May. These results boasted his ranking from low 300's to 206. In June, Ebden played in the United Kingdom on grass and made quarter final of the Manchester Challenger before winning the Surbiton Challenger the following week as an unseeded player and defeating 4 seeds along the way; including Denis Kudla in the final. The following week, Kudla got revenge, defeating Ebden made the final of Ilkley Challenger. These results were rewarded with a wild card into Wimbledon. At Wimbleon, Edben won his career-first main draw match defeating Blaž Rola in straight sets. Ebden lost to John Isner in round 2. Following this, Ebden continued his good form on the Challenger circuit, winning the Latrobe Challenger in November. Ebden finished the year with a ranking of 105.

2016: Injury-ravaged season

Ebden was awarded a wild card into the 2016 Australian Open but lost in round one to Marcel Granollers. In February, Ebden lost in round one of Delray Championships to Jeremy Chardy. This was his last match for seven months after which he sought advice and treatment from a multitude of health professionals in different countries.

Ebden returned to competition at the OEC Kaohsiung Challenger then played qualifying at three Asian ATP events before returning to the Australian Challenger circuit. Due to his injuries and time away from the tour, Ebden finished the year with a ranking of 698, his worst end of season ranking in a decade.

2017: First ATP singles final

Ebden made the second round of qualifying at the 2017 Australian Open. In February, he reached the quarter finals of 2017 Burnie International before travelling the North America where he qualified for and reached the quarter final of the Memphis Open. Ebden lost in round 1 of qualifying at Indian Wells, before returning to the Challenger Circuit in Asia. In May, Ebden lost in round 1 of qualifying at the 2017 French Open. Ebden had a poor run of form in June and early July, which saw him fail to win a main draw singles match at five consecutive tournaments. At the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, Ebden snapped his losing streak and made a surprise run to his first ATP final, where he lost to John Isner in straight sets. The result saw Ebden catapult to world number 154, improving his ranking by more than 500 places since the start of 2017.

Singles

Current through the 2017 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships