Top-50 doubles players Ellen Perez, Matt Ebden and Jordan Thompson garnered quarterfinal victories in Queen’s and s-Hertogenbosch, respectively, on Thursday.
Melbourne, VIC, 13 June 2025 | Jackson Mansell
Wimbledon preparation is in full swing for three of Australia’s top-ranked doubles players, who have recorded grasscourt semifinals berths.
Ellen Perez, alongside doubles world No.12 Zhang Shuai, advanced to the last four of the inaugural women’s event at Queen’s Club.
Meanwhile, Matt Ebden and Jordan Thompson have combined to fly the Australian flag in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, posting a quarterfinal victory on Thursday.
Perez and Shuai defeated four-time Grand Slam doubles champion Timea Babos and Brazilian Luisa Stefani in two tiebreak sets to book their semifinal spot.
Down 6-2 in the second-set tiebreak, the No.3 seeds saved five set points en route to a 7-6(4) 7-6(7) win.
Perez and Shuai face the second seeds Anna Danilina and Diana Shnaider in the semifinals. The Australian women’s doubles No.1 targets her first title since winning the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi event with Jelena Ostapenko in February.
> MORE: Perez returns to top 10 after Abu Dhabi crown
Ebden and Thompson prevailed 3-6 7-6(5) [10-7] against Dutchman Sander Arends and Frenchman Gregoire Jacq.
In their first ATP tournament as a duo, Ebden and Thompson added to their straight-sets victory in the opening round against Colombian Nicolas Barrientos and Indian Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli.
They take on the top seeds Nikola Mektic and Michael Venus on Friday for a place in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch final.
At the same event, Australian singles No.2 Alexei Popyrin bowed out in the round of 16 against Belgian Zizou Bergs.
Popyrin forced a final-set tiebreak but was unable to emerge victorious, losing 6-7(3) 6-2 7-6(3) in a three-hour nailbiter.
In the women’s singles draw, Kimberly Birrell’s campaign came to an end after she lost her round-of-16 match to Yuan Yue on Thursday.
> READ: Birrell thrilled to “smash through” top 100 goal
Her first-round triumph over world No.48 Wang Xinyu was her biggest victory by ranking since defeating Anastasia Potapova in the opening round at the Miami Masters in March.
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