Australian wildcards Kimberly Birrell and Talia Gibson have created another boilover in the AO 2026 doubles events by ousting credentialled duo Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
Finishing almost five hours after it started due to a heat delay, Birrell and Gibson showed tremendous grit and determination to stay mentally and physically focused, completing a 3-6 6-3 7-6[10-8] triumph.
“Feeling pretty good, really excited and super happy. It’s always amazing when you get to play more matches here in Melbourne and very cool to be in the second week of a Grand Slam,” said an elated Birrell, who reached the AO 2025 mixed doubles final with JP Smith.
Added Gibson: “For me it’s my first time getting to the second week of a Slam and a home Slam as well so yeah, this is extremely exciting.”
From a set down, Birrell and Gibson fought back in the second to force a decider with some aggressive but patient doubles.
Having to weather the storm against the crafty Italian pair, saving two match points along the way, Birrell and Gibson were rock solid under pressure.
“I think we were really clear on what we needed to do, what was working well to get us back into the third set, yeah, because we were down 4-1,” Birrell said.
“I mean, at that point I think we were already extremely impressed with ourselves at how well we had done in the match already. Going back out there, we had nothing to lose, so we were just going to go after it.”
With fellow wildcards James McCabe and Li Tu taking out British top seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool on Friday, Birrell and Gibson took some inspiration from their compatriots.
“First of all, the fact that a couple of Aussies beat the No.1 seeds is amazing and so unreal. I think it was on the same court as well,” Gibson said.
“It's just another reminder, anything can happen. You just have to go out there and just not play sort of the two people on the other side, if that makes sense.
“I think we just did well to focus on ourselves and just stay positive and enjoyed being out there.”
Another player Birrell took inspiration from was her good friend Maddison Inglis, who is into the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at AO 2026 after Naomi Osaka withdrew.
“She absolutely deserves to be in the fourth round, and she put herself in the situation,” Birrell said.
“Like Talia said, again, anything can happen in tennis, in sport. It's really inspirational. You've just got to keep working hard and keep showing up, and, yeah, you literally never know what can happen. It's really cool.”
Fellow Aussies Storm Hunter and Maya Joint also had an impressive 6-2 3-6 6-3 win over 12th seeds Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls.
Applying the pressure early, Joint and Hunter were dominant on service and return games. An injury timeout halfway through the second set helped the 12th seeds back into the match, before the match was suspended at 2-2 in the second.
Coming back with a vengeance when play recommenced, Hunter and Joint grabbed the early advantage and stormed home to victory.