For Pel, the number 70 on the ranking for double players, it was also the first time that he reached the semi -final of a grand slam tournament. He forms a successful occasional duo in London with the Australian, who won the double game title of the Australian Open in 2023 with Jason Kubler.
In the final, Pel and Hijikata will face the winners of the semi -final between Marcel Granollers from Spain and Horacio Zeballos from Argentina and the British Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool.
Difficult start
The Pel born in Amstelveen immediately received breakpoints in the first game, but managed to survive. Both duos then won their games, although Pel and Hijikata received a breakpoint and Setpoint at 5-4. In the tiebreak, however, Arevalo and Pavic were flawless and seized the set 7-2.
Also in the second set, Pel had a hard time on his storage a few times, but he retained his storage at 6-5 and forced a tiebreak again. Pel and Hijikata struck in this and use the second setpoint with a surprisingly high return from Hijikata.
Matchpoints are eliminated
In the third set, the unplaced Dutch/Australian couple was the first to get rid of, but could not cash it in. The third set also ended in a tiebreak, which then goes up to ten points won. Pel and Hijikata walked out to 4-0, but lost that lead. They worked two match points from Arevalo and Pavic and then struck on their first own match point at 10-9.