Matt Ebden through to Australian Open doubles final after surviving epic fightback

Australian Matthew Ebden is one win away from his third grand slam title after surging into the Australian Open men’s doubles final with veteran Indian Rohan Bopanna.

The second seeds came out on top in their semi-final against China’s Zhang Zhizhen and Czech Tomas Machac on Thursday, winning 6-3 3-6 7-6 (10-7).

Ebden and Bopanna, who will become the oldest No.1 pairing in tennis history at the end of the tournament, were cruising at 4-1 up in the third set.

However, the Chinese-Czech duo forced the match to a match tiebreak.

But ‘The Big Bopper’ calmly served out the match, prompting Bopanna to chest bump with Ebden.

“What an epic third set,” Ebden said.

“I’ve just got to hand it to my partner. We’ve been fighting since round one; a lot of tough moments, fighting through one-by-one.

“I’m proud of my partner. We’ve been working hard for over a year now together so one more match to fight through.”

The pair will meet the winner of Italy’s Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori and German duo Dominik Koepffer and Yannick Hanfmann in the final.

It is the third-straight year an Australia has featured in a men’s double final at Melbourne Park.

Ebden and Max Purcell lost the all-Australian final in 2022 after countrymen Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis famously “jumped off the couch” to claim their maiden major title.

Jason Kubler and Rinky Hijikata won last year’s title but fell in three sets in the second round this tournament.

Ebden won Wimbledon alongside fellow Aussie Purcell in 2022 and picked up the Australian Open mixed doubles with compatriot Jarmila Gajdosova back in 2013.

Meanwhile, Australian tennis’s new golden girl Storm Hunter can book a spot in the women’s doubles for herself and Czech partner Katerina Siniakova.

Hunter and Siniakova will face second seeds Hsieh Su-We, from Taiwan, and Belgian Elise Mertens - the Australian’s long-time former partner - for a place in the final.