London, (Asian independent) India’s Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden stormed into the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles at Wimbledon here, beating David Pel and Reese Stalder in the Round of 16.
The Indo-Australian pair, seeded sixth, got the better of David Pel of the Netherlands and Reese Stalder of the United States in a tough three-setter, beating the unseeded opponents 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(5) in two hours and 19 minutes.
Bopanna, ranked 12th in the world doubles rankings, and world No. 16 Matthew Ebden, who won the Wimbledon doubles title with Max Purcell last year, put on a disciplined performance in the first set.
They struck 17 winners against 11 by Pel and Stalder as they won 75% of points on the first serve while they won 22 out of 36 points on the second serve. The Indo-Australian pair also made nine unforced errors as compared to three by their opponents.
They held onto their serve and won a late break in the 11th game to win the first set.
In the second, Bopanna and Ebden made a good start but against the run of the play, Pel and Stalder broke the Indian’s serve in the 10th game to win the second set and took the match into the decider. The start of the third set was delayed because of rain. Things went with serve before Bopanna and Ebden saved three match points to take the contest into the 10-point tie-breaker
Pel and Stalder raced to a 3-1 lead in the tie-breaker. But Bopanna’s superb backhand shots and Ebden’s accuracy helped the Indo-Australian pair win seven consecutive points and eventually use their experience to close the match in their favour. Bopanna and Ebden will next take on the Dutch duo of Bart Stevens and Tallon Griekspoor in the quarter-finals.
