Australian Open 2024: Matt Ebden through to doubles semi-final

Matthew Ebden says it’s a “special feeling” to help his partner reach No. 1 in the world as he advanced through to the men’s doubles semi-finals at Melbourne Park for the second time.

Ebden is two wins away from a home grand slam title with Indian veteran Rohan Bopanna, while Australia’s world No. 1 women’s doubles player Storm Hunter survived a gruelling three-set match to also reach the semi-finals.

Hunter had to face down the woman who ousted her from the third round of the singles, Barbora Krejcikova, along with Laura Siegemund to beat the fifth-seeded pair 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 along with new Czech partner Katerina Siniakova.

Ebden and Bopanna defeated Argentinian sixth seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) in their quarter-final on Wednesday to set up a Thursday afternoon semi-final against Czechia’s Tomas Machac and China’s Zhang Zhizhen.

The victory took the second-seeded duo to the top of the doubles rankings, with Bopanna, 43, becoming the oldest world No. 1 in men’s doubles history.

“Yeah, (Bopanna) has the 1, I have the 2, whatever, but I saw (we are on) equal points … I’m happy to claim that,” Ebden joked after the rankings were updated following the win.

“It was a big goal of ours when we started this partnership over a year ago and we talked about it,” he said.

“It’s an incredible thing for Bops, especially at his age. That’s an incredible testament to his hard work.

“This last year it would have been easy for him to think, ‘oh, I’ll just have another decent year and retire in the next couple of years’, but I asked him to commit fully, he pushed himself, we pushed each other.”

Ebden said the pair would enjoy the achievement but then “get back to work” preparing for their semi-final, which is their second as a duo after reaching the final four at Wimbledon last year.

The Aussie 36-year-old won at Wimbledon with Max Purcell in 2022, and now has the chance to make amends for their Australian Open defeat to the “Special Ks” in the same year with a grand slam title.

Ebden won a home grand slam title previously in the mixed doubles in 2013 with Jarmila Wolfe (nee Gajdosova), but this year’s mixed doubles campaign with Storm Hunter came to an end in the second round when the top seeds were upset by fellow Aussie pair Jaimee Fourlis and Andrew Harris.

In her doubles semi-final Hunter will come face-to-face with the partner she rose to the top of the world rankings with in Belgium’s Elise Mertens, who won her quarter-final with new Taiwanese partner Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday.