New York: Veteran Indian doubles specialist Rohan Bopanna becomes oldest Grand Slam finalist of Open era as he bids to clinch his maiden major crown in the US Open on Friday.
Sixth-seeded Bopanna and Matthew Ebden of Australia defeated the French duo of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (3), 6-2 on Thursday to book a meeting with Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.
Ram and Salisbury will have a chance for the first US Open men’s doubles three-peat in more than 90 years. The No. 3-seeded team pulled out a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over the No. 2-seeded duo of Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek on Thursday, moving into the finals with their 17th straight victory in Flushing Meadows.
Three straight finals
Ram, an American, and Salisbury, from Britain, haven’t lost at the US Open since the 2020 semifinals. They are the first team to reach three straight finals in Flushing Meadows since the famed Australian duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde from 1994-96, and can become the first to win it three straight times since Americans John Doeg and George Lott Jr. from 1928-30.
They surged ahead by breaking Dodig’s serve in the second game of the third set en route to a 3-0 lead, and the 39-year-old Ram eventually closed it out with a dominant service game in which Dodig and Krajicek could only get one ball back into play.
Bopanna and Ebden, an Australian, cruised through the second set in 29 minutes after needing 65 minutes to take the first. The 43-year-old Bopanna is bidding to clinch his first title in New York after making the final 13 years ago when he lost in the final with Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.
