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Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden rallied from a set down Thursday to reach their second ATP Masters 1000 final of the season. The Indian Wells champions will contest the title with Top-15 singles players Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, who produced their best match of the tournament to advance.
The Indian-Australian duo ousted eighth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 5-7, 7-6(3), 10-4 in the last four of the Mutua Madrid Open. In the Match Tie-break, Bopanna and Ebden won four of seven return points to book their ticket into Saturday’s final.
Bopanna and Ebden, seeded seventh, are aiming for their third title of the season (Doha, Indian Wells). Their strong start to the season has lifted them to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings.
Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin have won titles in Marseille and Miami this season. Their last two losses have come to Bopanna and Ebden, having suffered a defeat to the team in Barcelona.
Khachanov and Rublev, who faced each other in the singles round of 16, continued their run by defeating fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-4, 6-4. Khachanov and Rublev won 31 of 37 first-serve points and fended off all three break points faced to advance.
After dropping the opening set in each of their first three matches, Khachanov and Rublev needed just one hour, 13 minutes to reach their third doubles final together (2018 Miami, 2019 Paris Masters).
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