South Africa's Raven Klaasen storms into Wimbledon semis

07 July 2016 - 02:00 By TMG Digital

South African doubles specialist Raven Klaasen and his American partner Rajeev Ram upset the second seeded Bob and Mike Bryan at Wimbledon on Wednesday to reach the semifinals of the Grand Slam event.The 7-6 6-1 7-6 victory over the American pair‚ who are the most successful in the history of doubles tennis‚ was completed in just over 100 minutes.Klaasen and Ram will know the identity of their semifinal opponents later on Wednesday when the third seeded Jamie Murray of Britain and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares take on the undefeated French pair of Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.Klaasen and Ram had already beaten the 38-year-old American twins twice this year – in the Australian Open and at the ATO tournament in Halle last month – but neither triumph was as convincing as Wednesday’s victory.A first set tiebreaker was followed by a storming second set in which the pair won five games on the trot to take the set 6-1. They were behind in the third set but kept pace with their opponents to again win in a tie breaker with Klaasen’s return of serve proving decisive.The 33-year-old from the Eastern Cape is ranked in the top 20 of men’s doubles tennis but has only plated in one previous Grand Slam final – losing two years ago in the decider in Australia. ..

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