Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP Finals men's doubles event after defeating the pair of Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski in straight sets here on Friday. Bopanna-Ebden pair won 6-4, 7-6(5) over Koolhof (the Netherlands) and Skupski (Great Britain) in a Red Group qualification decider that lasted 84 minutes. (Tennis News)
The third-seeded Indo-Australian duo produced a strong performance on serve, winning 88 percent (35/40) of points behind their first delivery to improve to 2-1 in Red Group play.
With their 40th tour-level win of the season, Bopanna and Ebden joined defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the knockout stages from Red Group.
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Earlier this week, Bopanna, 43, became the oldest player to win a match in the tournament history. Bopanna and Ebden first teamed up at the start of this season and enjoyed an impressive year together, winning tour-level trophies in Doha and Indian Wells. Bopanna is making his fourth appearance at the year-end event, while Ebden is debuting.
Bopanna and Ebden can still finish the season with year-end ATP Doubles No. 1. They must reach the final to pass already-eliminated Dodig and Krajicek, who are in top spot. Koolhof and Skupski can no longer finish the season at No. 1.
The pairs of Santiago Gonzalez-Edouard Roger Vasselin and Marcel Granollers-Horacio Zeballos -- who are in the fray in Green Group -- must lift the trophy to move to No. 1.
