Paris [France]: With an all-round performance in the semifinals, the duo of Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden moved to within one victory of winning their third title of the season as a pair after they overwhelmed Harri Heliovaara and Mate Pavic 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-6 at the on Saturday.
The third seeds prevailed after 89 minutes of a tense match by winning 88 per cent (46/52) of their first-serve points and dominating at crucial times by preserving all three break opportunities to clinch a place in the summit encounter.
The Indian-Australian duo would surpass Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek by 60 points to take the top spot in the ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings if Bopanna and Ebden win in Paris.
Bopanna and Ebden, who won in Indian Wells in March, are going for their second ATP Masters 1000 title of the year.
They have advanced to the US Open and Shanghai finals, winning 12 of their last 14 games. When they take on Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin or Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury on Sunday in the championship match, they hope to advance even further.
To finish up their seasons, Bopanna and Ebden will play at the ATP Finals in Turin later this month.