Indian tennis veteran Rohan Bopanna, alongside his Australian partner Matthew Ebden, progressed to their third men's doubles semi-final of the season, triumphing over Dutch player Sem Verbeek and Australian John-Patrick Smith at the Miami Open.
Their journey to victory wasn't without hurdles as they battled through a challenging quarterfinal, marked by a series of unforced errors in the initial set. Despite this, they managed to secure a hard-fought win with a scoreline of 3-6, 7-6 (4), 10-7.
This win holds significance for the 44-year-old Bopanna, currently ranked second in the world, as it bolsters his position within the top 10 in the ATP doubles rankings and secures his direct qualification for the Paris Olympics scheduled for July-August. The deadline for rankings to be considered for direct Paris qualification is June 10.
Although the Bopanna-Ebden duo, seeded number one in the tournament, faced challenges in maintaining a high first and second-serve percentage, they showcased resilience by securing crucial breaks in the second set, ultimately forcing a tie-breaker which they clinched to level the match.
Bopanna, who achieved a career-high world number one ranking earlier this year following his triumph at the Australian Open, has slipped to the second position after encountering setbacks with a quarterfinal loss at the Dubai Championships and a round-of-32 exit at the Indian Wells Masters.
Their upcoming opponents in the semi-final will be determined by the winners of the match between Marcel Granollers from Spain and Horacio Zeballos from Argentina, and Lloyd Glasspool from the UK partnered with Jean-Julien Rojer from the Netherlands.
Notably, Bopanna and Ebden had previously reached the semi-finals of the Adelaide Open in January, where they progressed to the title round before succumbing to Rajeev Ram from the USA and Joe Salisbury from the UK.
Despite initial expectations, the American-British duo will not face the Indo-Australian pair in the semi-finals as they were defeated in the quarterfinals.
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