Ebden, Bopanna through to US Open men's doubles final

Tournament No.6 seeds Matthew Ebden and Rohan Bopanna are through to the US Open men's doubles final at Flushing Meadows.

The Australian tennis star and his Indian partner beat the veteran French team of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 in Thursday's first semi-final.

Ebden and Bopanna cruised through the second set in 29 minutes after needing 65 minutes to take the first.

At 43, Bopanna became the oldest men's doubles grand slam finalist in the Open era, dating to 1968, and can win his first major men's doubles title having lost the 2010 US Open decider with Pakistani Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi to Mike and Bob Bryan.

Ebden is seeking his second, having joined fellow Australian Max Purcell to win Wimbledon in 2022.

But they face a monumental task ahead in Friday's final when they take on Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, who are vying for the first US Open men's doubles three-peat in more than 90 years.

The No.3 seeds pulled out a 7-5 3-6 6-3 win over the No.2-seeded duo of Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek, for their 17th straight victory at Flushing Meadows.

American Ram and Britain's Salisbury haven't lost at the US Open since the 2020 semi-finals.

They are the first team to reach three straight finals here since the famed Australian duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde from 1994-96, and can become the first to win three straight times since Americans John Doeg and George Lott Jr. from 1928-30.

They surged ahead by breaking Dodig's serve in the second game of the third set en route to a 3-0 lead, and the 39-year-old Ram eventually closed it out with a dominant service game in which Dodig and Krajicek could only get one ball back into play.