Matt Ebden and John Friends are the final Australians standing at Roland Garros after defeating German pair Dominik Koepfer and Jan-Lennard Struff within the males’s doubles quarterfinals.
Paris, France, 1 August 2024 | tennis.com.au
World No.3 Matt Ebden and John Friends are by to the lads’s doubles semifinals after defeating Germany’s Dominik Koepfer and Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(2) 7-6(4) at Roland Garros on Wednesday.
The unseeded Aussie pair is now one win from an Olympic tennis medal.
“For us to place our greatest foot ahead for the primary couple of matches is unbelievable,” Friends mentioned. “We’re having fun with being right here and thriving within the second. We’re able to preserve going.”
Ebden mentioned the whereas the Germans saved clawing again, they toughed it out and performed the massive moments higher.
“They performed tremendous nicely. Dom is seeing the ball like a watermelon. He was zoning, swinging from the hip, left, proper and centre,” he mentioned. “And Struffy is without doubt one of the finest doubles gamers on the earth, he performs enormous.”
One step nearer to a medal 💪
Matt Ebden and John Friends are by to the lads’s doubles semifinals after defeating Germany’s Dominik Koepfer and Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(2) 7-6(4)#AllezAUS #Paris2024 #Olympics #tennis pic.twitter.com/98Hm0bL2G3
— TennisAustralia (@TennisAustralia) August 1, 2024
The pair has a day without work on Thursday and can return on Friday to compete within the semifinals the place they are going to meet American third seeds Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul or British duo Andy Murray and Daniel Evans.
“It’s one other good step, one other stepping stone. We made no secret of our objective, we wish to win,” Ebden mentioned. “That’s why we’re right here. It’s one other step in the correct route.”
Alexei Popyrin’s marketing campaign got here to an finish within the third spherical after the Australian fell to reigning Olympic champion, third-seeded German Alexander Zverev.
Popyrin was up a break within the first set earlier than the momentum shifted and Zverev prevailed 7-5 6-3 on Courtroom Suzanne-Lenglen.
“I’m disenchanted. I felt like if I acquired that first set it may have been anybody’s match,” Popyrin mentioned. “I felt like I used to be taking part in fairly nicely up till that time. I used to be dictating, I used to be doing every little thing we got down to do with Lleyton.
“My serve might be my greatest weapon, and it gave means in crucial moments.”
> READ: Popyrin stops triple main champion to succeed in Olympics third spherical
Popyrin mentioned his Olympic expertise in Paris had been a profession spotlight.
“Representing the inexperienced and gold, that’s at all times been a dream of mine. To characterize my nation on the Olympics, Davis Cup and characterize my nation on the whole.
“To have the ability to do it, to have the ability to win just a few matches and make it to the third spherical of the Olympics, to take probably the greatest gamers on the earth to the place he has to play some actually good tennis to beat me, I can take positives from that.”
The 24-year-old’s lead to Paris was the perfect outcome for an Aussie man in singles since London 2012 when Lleyton Hewitt reached the Olympics third spherical.
> READ: Ebden all smiles after Olympic debut
Within the combined doubles quarterfinals, China’s Zhang Zhizhen and Wang Xinyu saved two match factors to defeat Ellen Perez and Ebden in a three-set thriller, 6-7(8) 7-6(8) [10-5].
“Positively a heartbreaker,” Perez mentioned. “I believe we did lots of issues proper, we put ourselves in positions to win. One level away. That’s tennis.
“It was a enjoyable match, a extremely good match. I believe there have been occasions every of us performed unimaginable factors, however it was an actual disgrace to not get the win.”
PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES RESULTS
Males’s singles, third spherical
[3] Alexander Zverev (GER) d Alexei Popyrin (AUS) 7-5 6-3
Males’s doubles, quarterfinals
Matt Ebden / John Friends (AUS) d Dominik Koepfer / Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) 7-6(2) 7-6(4)
Blended doubles, quarterfinals
Zhizhen Zhang / Xinyu Wang (CHN) d [2] Ellen Perez / Matt Ebden (AUS) 6-7(8) 7-6(8) [10-5]
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