West Aussies Storm Hunter and Matt Ebden have advanced to their respective doubles semi-finals at Wimbledon.
Matt Ebden has advanced to back-to-back gentlemen’s doubles semifinals at Wimbledon.
After enjoying a title-winning run alongside compatriot Max Purcell last year, the 35-year-old Matt Ebden from Perth has progressed to the final four for the second consecutive year with India’s Rohan Bopanna.
The sixth-seeded combination survived a spirited challenge from Dutch duo Tallon Griekspoor and Bart Stevens in the quarterfinals at the All England Club today, eventually closing out a 6-7(3) 7-5 6-2 victory.
This extends world No.16 Ebden’s winning streak at the tournament to 10 matches.
Ebden joins exclusive company with this effort.
He is the 17th Australian to reach back-to-back gentlemen’s doubles semifinals at Wimbledon in the Open era and becomes the first player to achieve the feat in 19 years.
The last to do so was Todd Woodbridge, who made three consecutive semifinals between 2002 and 2004.
Pat Cash and Paul McNamee are the only other Australians to reach a semifinal at the All England Club, then return to that stage the following year with a different partner.
Top seeds Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Brit Neal Skupski await in the semifinals.
These two teams have met four times already this season, scoring two wins apiece.
Koolhof and Skupski, the co-ranked world No.2s, won their most recent meeting against Ebden and Bopanna on the grass-courts at Queen’s Club last month.
Australian Storm Hunter and Belgian partner Elise Mertens have moved into the Wimbledon 2023 ladies’ doubles semifinals.
Storm Hunter and Belgian Elise Mertens are proving why they are one of the world’s best teams.
The third seeds have dropped a total of seven games in a hasty march into the ladies’ doubles semifinals at Wimbledon 2023.
Hunter and Mertens secured their place in the final four with another commanding victory, beating British wildcards Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden 6-2 6-1 in quarterfinal action today at the All England Club.
Bains and Lumsden, ranked No.173 and No.178 respectively, had been enjoying a stunning career-best run to become the first all-British pair to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 40 years.
But world No.7 Hunter and world No.8 Mertens simply outclassed their less experienced opponents, conceding only 11 points on serve in the 71-minute encounter.
This improves 28-year-old Hunter and 27-year-old Mertens’ season record to 18 wins from their 23 matches.
They teamed up for the first time at the Australian Open in January, where they advanced to the quarterfinals. Hunter and Mertens also made final-eight appearances at Indian Wells and Miami, before enjoying a title-winning run at the WTA 1000 event in Rome.
This helped Hunter’s ranking peak at a career-high world No.5 in May.
“It’s been a lot of fun,” Hunter said of their partnership on The AO Show podcast last week.
Their semifinal run matches Hunter’s career-best result at Wimbledon, having also made this stage in 2021.
With this effort, Hunter joins exclusive company as only the 12th Australian in the Open era to make multiple ladies’ doubles semifinal appearances at Wimbledon.
Hunter and Mertens now play the 16th seeds, American Caroline Dolehide and China’s Zhang Shuai, for a place in the final.
Although it will be the first meeting between these teams, they are familiar with each other.
Hunter has made two Grand Slam doubles semifinal appearances alongside world No.39 Dolehide, including at Wimbledon in 2021.
Mertens and world No.36 Zhang reached last year’s Wimbledon doubles final together.
Latest
WA