Bopanna-Ebden pair seal semi-final spot

Turin: 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.

The third-seeded Indo-Australian duo produced a strong performance on serve, winning 88 per cent (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.

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.