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Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden qualified for the semi-finals of the ATP Finals. The Indo-Australian pair defeated Wesley Koolhof-Neal Skupski pair in straight sets in men’s doubles events in Turin on Friday, November 17. Bopanna-Ebden won 6-4, 7-6(5) over Koolhof (the Netherlands) and Skupski (Great Britain) in a Red Group qualification decider.
While the 43-year-old Bopanna is making his fourth year-end appearance, Ebden is playing his maiden ATP Finals. The third-seeded duo won their 40th tour match of the season and joined the defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the knockout stages from the Red group.
Earlier, Bopanna became the oldest player in the history of the tournament to win a match at the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday when he and Ebden beat Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler 6-4, 6-4. Not only this, but earlier this year, Bopanna became the oldest tennis player to win an ATP Masters 1000 title, when he won the Indian Wells doubles event with Ebden.
This will be Bopanna’s third semi-final appearance in four attempts at the men’s year-end championships. Bopanna made it to the finals in 2012 and 2015, first with compatriot Mahesh Bhupati and then with Romania’s Florin Mergea, but lost on both occasions.
