| Thursday, 3 July 2008 Written by Helen Gilbert Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett, left hanging when rain suspended play at match point, duly finished the job at their third attempt on their return to court and bumped the top-seeded Bryan brothers out of the men's doubles at the semi-final stage. The Court 2 duel began in glorious sunshine but was twice halted due to rain, and finally concluded with a 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (11-9) win for the Swede and Zimbabwean pair in three hours and one minute. And the appearance in the final could be the perfect way for Jonas Bjorkman to bow out of Wimbledon, with the Swede indicating at the start of the tournament that he plans to retire at the age of 36. Bjorkman and Ullyett, also 36, were clearly the underdogs in this match. They were seeded eighth and up against the younger American twins, who have accrued five Grand Slam men’s doubles titles together and so far collected three ATP Masters Series titles this year. But Bjorkman - who has nine men's doubles Grand Slam titles, including three at Wimbledon, to his name - produced flawless doubles to ensure this was not his final day in the sun (and rain). Phenomenal net play and blistering winners were his forte – at one point in the first set the Swede ran back chasing an awkward lob, which bounced and he magnificently manoeuvered himself around the ball to hit a blistering winner, drawing gasps from the Court Two crowd. The duo, supported at courtside by that long-time Wimbledon campaigner Wayne Ferreira, defended three set points and went on to clinch the first set on a tie-break. The Bryans retaliated in the second and, at 5-5, Mike produced a combination of precision lobs and textbook volleying to help steal a break. They celebrated with their famous Bryan Bump and the set was soon theirs when Bob smashed the life out of the ball on set point in the following game. A close third set ensued – again decided on a tie-break which went to Bjorkman and Ullyett – and when the Bryans secured three set points in the fourth set tie-break, a five-set match looked to be on the cards. But their opponents clawed they way back to reach match point at 8-7 but the rain which had just started falling became too heavy for play to continue. When the tie-break resumed, the Americans saved the match point, to then promptly face another. Again they saved, but they couldn't pull off a hat-trick and Bjorkman and Ullyett celebrated victory with their own little chest bump. Speaking after the match, Bjorkman said resuming play at match point was "a lot of pressure for both teams". He said: "We're excited to be in the final and hope to play on Centre Court. Hopefully there is no rain so we can get Centre Court. That would be the best. It's a unique stadium and not easy to get on there." This is both Bjorkman's and Ullyett's swansong at Wimbledon but the pair hope to be back on the seniors' circuit next year. "I hope to be having a chance to be invited for seniors and invited as a spectator as well. This is my favourite tournament and has always been," the amiable Swede added. Elsewhere, in the other semi-final, second seeds Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic are leading Lukas Dlouhy and Leander Paes 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-1, 3-3. The match, suspended due to bad light, will resume tomorrow, second on No.1 Court.
| Court 2 - Gentlemen's Doubles - Semifinals | |
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