Bopanna, Ebden storm into Wimbledon semis, face top seeds Koolhof-Skupski

Rohan Bopanna. Photo: PTI

London: Top Indian doubles player Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden continued their dream run to advance into the Wimbledon semifinal with a hard-fought 6-7 (6-3), 7-5, 6-2 win over Dutch duo of Tallon Griekspoor and Bart Stevens.

For the 43-year-old, this will be his third appearance in a Wimbledon semifinal and first since 2015. Overall, Bopanna, a US Open runner-up in 2010, has made four Grand Slam semifinals in the men's doubles.

The sixth seeded Indo-Australian duo will now be up against the top-seeded Dutch-British pair Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski for a place in the final.

The unseeded Dutch duo stretched the opening set to the fullest before wrapping it in the tie-breaker in a 45-minute battle.

They went on to break the Bopanna-Ebden in the first game of the second set. But the Indo-Aussie duo broke back Griekspoor-Stevens and further seized the seventh game.

But Griekspoor-Stevens were not ready to give up easily as they made it 5-5 before Bopanna-Ebden duo got a break in the 11th game and retained their serve in the next to take the second set in 40 minutes.

The third set was a cakewalk for as they broke the Dutch pair twice, in the first and fifth games, before wrapping the match in a one-hour 54 minutes battle.

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