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Ebden eyes rare Wimbledon doubles double

3 minute read

Australian tennis star Matt Ebden has given himself a chance of winning two Wimbledon doubles titles after advancing to the mixed final with Samantha Stosur.

MATTHEW EBDEN.
MATTHEW EBDEN. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Matt Ebden is eyeing one of the rarest feats in Australian tennis after making it into the Wimbledon mixed doubles final with champion compatriot Samantha Stosur.

Ebden and Stosur upstaged fancied Americans Jack Sock and Coco Gauff 6-3 5-7 7-5 in a three-set semi-final thriller on Wednesday.

The veteran duo are striving to go one better than their Australian Open final loss last year to Rajeev Ram and Barbora Krejcikova.

Ebden and Stosur - who retired from singles after this year's Australian Open in January - will play British-American second seeds Neal Skupski and Desirae Krawczyk in Thursday's final.

Stosur already boasts two Wimbledon mixed trophies to go with her four women's doubles grand slam crowns and, of course, the 2011 US Open singles title.

The 38-year-old teamed with the American Bob Bryan to reign at the All England Club in 2008 and again in 2014 with with Serb Nenad Zimonjic.

But Ebden is chasing a first Wimbledon crown to add to his 2013 Australian Open mixed doubles triumph with fellow Australian Jarmila Gajdosova.

The 34-year-old West Australian is also through to the semi-finals of the men's doubles after partnering compatriot Max Purcell to a 6-4 6-4 6-2 victory over seventh seeds John Peers and Slovakian Filip Polasek on Wednesday.

Runners-up to Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis in trhe Australian Open doubles final in January, Ebden and Purcell face Ram and Britain's Joe Salisbury on Friday for a place in the final.

If Ebden can win both events, he will become the first Australian to complete a Wimbledon doubles double since the great Todd Woodbridge in 1994.

Woodbridge's long-time partner Mark Woodforde (1993), former Davis Cup captain John Fitzgerald (1991) and pre-open-era legends Ken Fletcher (1966), Fred Stolle (1964), Frank Sedgman (1951 and 1952) and John Bromwich (1948) are the only other Australians to have achieved the feat in more than a century.

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