Bopanna/Ebden Seal SF Spot In Turin

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden advanced to the semi-finals at the Nitto ATP Finals on Friday when they overcame Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 6-4, 7-6(5) in a Red Group qualification decider in Turin.

Meeting for the sixth time this season, the third seeds 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 after 84 minutes.

With their 40th tour-level win of the season, Bopanna and Ebden have improved to 3-3 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. They have joined defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the knockout stages.

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The Ram and Salisbury are 2-0 in Red Group play this week and face already-eliminated Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler in their final round-robin match on Friday evening.

Earlier this week, Bopanna, 43, became the oldest player to win a match in tournament history. The Indian-Australian pair first teamed 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 presented by Pepperstone honours. They must reach the final in Turin to pass already-eliminated Dodig and Krajicek, who are in top spot. Koolhof and Skupski can no longer finish the season at No. 1.

Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin and Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos must lift the trophy to move to No. 1.