Top Indian doubles player Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden reached the semi-final at Wimbledon with a hard-fought 6-7 (7-3), 7-5, 6-2 win over Dutch duo of Tallon Griekspoor and Bart Stevens.
This is the 43-year-old Bopanna’s third appearance in a Wimbledon semi-final and first since 2015.
The sixth seeded pair will be up against the top-seeded Dutch-British pair Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski for a place in the final on Thursday. They had lost to the same pair in the Queen’s quarterfinal right before Wimbledon. However, the Indo-Australian’s big win this year also came against the top seeds, in the final of the Indian Wells Masters.
Bopanna-Ebden Sails into the Semi Final of #WimbeldonOpen2023🎾
The Indo-Australian Duo defeats 🇳🇱 pair Griekspoor-Stevens in 3⃣ sets (6(3)-7,7-5,6-2) to book a spot in the SF.
This will be #TOPSchemeAthlete @rohanbopanna‘s 1⃣st Wimbledon SF appearance after a long hiatus… pic.twitter.com/W3GRwX490k
– SAI Media (@Media_SAI) July 12, 2023
The first set was a close one with unseeded Dutch duo wrapping it in the tie-breaker in a 45-minute battle. They then broke the Bopanna-Ebden in the first game of the second set.
However, the Indo-Aussie duo broke back 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 all about the seeds as they broke the Dutch pair twice, in the first and fifth games, before wrapping the match in a one-hour 54 minutes battle.
Veteran Bopanna has had a solid season in 2023 with Ebden, winning the Indian Wells and reaching the final of the Madrid Open, both Masters 1000 tournaments. The Indian, who was the US Open runner-up in 2010, has made four Grand Slam semifinals in the men’s doubles.
With PTI Inputs