Top Seeds Advance To SFs, Bryans Ousted

Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin ousted third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(11), 6-7(1), 10-8 on Wednesday to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals. The French duo could not capitalise on their three match point opportunities – at 6/5, 8/7 and 11/10 – in the third-set tie-break as the British/Brazilian pair stretched the match to a fourth set. Finally in the fifth set, Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin broke for a 9-8 lead before closing out victory to love. The unseeded team saved five of the six break points they faced to prevail in a lengthy four-hour, 30-minute battle.

Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin next face No. 11 seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram, who topped three-time Wimbledon champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan 7-6(2), 6-1, 7-6(4). Klaasen and Ram did not face a break point and capitalised on both of their own break chances to reach the final four in one hour and 43 minutes.

Top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut needed four sets to reach the last four. The French pair beat No. 10 seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(8), saving six of the seven break points they faced to reach the semi-finals.

With the win by Benneteau and Roger-Vasselin, Mahut will return to No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings on Monday.

Herbert and Mahut next face Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi, the No. 12 seeds, who beat former Wimbledon doubles champion Jonathan Marray and his partner, Adil Shamasdin, 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3. Mirnyi, who was celebrating his 39^th birthday, and his partner hit 11 winners, eight of them aces, en route to the semi-finals.

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