Miami Open: Bopanna-Ebden pair enter men’s doubles semifinal

FLORIDA — Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and his Australian teammate Matthew Ebden sailed into men’s doubles semifinal at the Miami Open.

Top seeds Indian-Australian pair, currently ranked second in the world, needed a Match Tie-break to advance. The duo overcame Dutch-Australian pair John-Patrick Smith and Sem Verbeek 3-6, 7-6(7-4), 10-7 to reach the last four.

The Australian Open champions next face Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos or Lloyd Glasspool and Jean-Julien Rojer.

This was Bopanna and Ebden’s third semifinal together this year. They had also reached the last-four of the Adelaide Open in January this year and also made the summit clash but eventually lost to English-American pair Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram.

Notably, Bopanna became the oldest first-time world no. 1 at the age of 43, achieving the top ranking in men’s doubles following the success at the Australian Open this January.

However, the duo slipped to second spot in the ATP rankings after their quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Championships and a round-of-32 exit at the Indian Wells Masters.

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