Breaking News! Indians Rohan Bopanna and Australians Matthew Ebden defeated David Pell and Reese Stalder in the round of 16 to enter the men’s doubles at Wimbledon 2023 quarterfinals here.
Although the sixth-seeded Indo-Australian pairing of David Pell of the Netherlands and Reese Stalder of the USA defeated their unseeded opponents 7-5, 4-6, 7-6(5) in a close three-way match sets, just in two hours 19 minutes.
How did they secure their place in Wimbledon 2023 Quarterfinals?
As we have known, in the world doubles rankings, Bopanna, ranked 12th, and world No. 16 Matthew Ebden, who won the Wimbledon doubles title with Max Purcell last year, exhibited discipline in the first set.
However, they hit 17 winners to Pell and Stalder’s 11 as he won 75% of his first serve points while winning 22 of 36-second serve points. The Indo-Australian pair also made nine unforced errors compared to their opponents’ three unforced errors. They held serve and broke late in the eleventh game to take the first set.
Other Facts!
In the second, Bopanna and Ebden started well, but contrary to the momentum of the game, Pell and Stalder broke the Indian in the tenth game to win the second set and take the match to a deciding set. Moreover, due to rain, the third set start was delayed. Things went downhill on serve before Bopanna and Ebden saved three match points to bring the tie to a 10-point tiebreaker.
Furthermore, in the tiebreaker, Pell and Stalder took a 3-1 lead. But Bopanna’s superb backhands and Ebden’s precision helped the Indo-Australian pair win seven straight points and eventually use their experience to close out the match in their favor. Bopanna and Ebden will face the Dutch pairing of Bart Stevens and Tallon Grikspoor in the quarterfinals.