Bopanna-Ebden make Madrid Open final

By PTI

MADRID: Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden came back from a set down to beat Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin and reach the men’s doubles final at the Madrid Open here.

The 43-year-old Bopanna and Ebden, 35, defeated eighth seeds Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin 5-7 7-6(3) 10-4 to reach their second ATP Masters 1000 final of the season.

The Indo-Australian pair, seeded seventh, won four of the seven return points in the tie-breaker here on Thursday.

The two will now take on the unseeded Russian pair of Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, in the final on Saturday.

Khachanov and Rublev defeated the reigning French Open champions Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4 6-4 in the second semifinal.

Bopanna had scripted history in March as he became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion when he and Ebden won the BNP Paribas Open.

Having also won the Qatar Open in February, the duo, which has risen to number one in ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, is now aiming for its third title of the season.

<br /> MADRID: Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden came back from a set down to beat Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin and reach the men’s doubles final at the Madrid Open here.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>The 43-year-old Bopanna and Ebden, 35, defeated eighth seeds Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin 5-7 7-6(3) 10-4 to reach their second ATP Masters 1000 final of the season.</p> <p>The Indo-Australian pair, seeded seventh, won four of the seven return points in the tie-breaker here on Thursday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });</p> <p>The two will now take on the unseeded Russian pair of Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, in the final on Saturday.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.85 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.85 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Khachanov and Rublev defeated the reigning French Open champions Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4 6-4 in the second semifinal.</p> <p>Bopanna had scripted history in March as he became the oldest ATP Masters 1000 champion when he and Ebden won the BNP Paribas Open.</p> <p>Having also won the Qatar Open in February, the duo, which has risen to number one in ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, is now aiming for its third title of the season.<br />