Hometown wildcards Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans continued their charmed Australian Open run, punching their ticket into the men's doubles final with a tight three-set semifinal triumph.
The Australian duo started ominously, staggered mid-match, then finished with grit, defeating Great Britain's Luke Johnson and Poland's Jan Zielinski 6-2 3-6 6-3.
Kubler will be bidding for his second AO doubles crown after triumphing with Rinky Hijikata - also as wildcards - in 2023.
Polmans, a semifinalist with Andrew Whittington at Melbourne Park in 2017, was the best player on the court on Thursday and will be contesting his first Grand Slam final.
Awaiting the Australians will be Great Britain's former world. No1 Neal Skupski and American Christian Harrison, the experienced sixth seeds ousting third-seeded Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in straight sets in the other semi.
“I’m pretty pumped to be in the final,” Polmans said. “We had a pretty close first-round match, being down 4-1 against the Special Ks (Thanassi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios) in the third (set).
"Didn’t expect to go this far, so me and Jason are just enjoying the rollercoaster ride we’re on at the moment."
The Aussie duo had to come from a break down in the third set after they had opened in near-flawless fashion, chalking up eight winners to two unforced errors in the first set.
Kubler said during his on-court interview that Polmans was "unbelievable" and "carried me today”.
“That’s the great thing about doubles – it’s the teamwork,” Kubler said. “Some days I won’t be feeling it, like today, and then Marcy really stepped up. I’m sure there will be other times when maybe Marcy doesn’t feel it as much and I’ve got to step up.”
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Kubler showed no signs of being hampered by his bandaged left knee, which has undergone multiple operations, as he leapt skyward for a slam-dunk smash to conjure the first break of the match.
Two games later, the Queenslander unleashed back-to-back return winners on the ad side to clinch an insurance break, before holding for 5-1. Polman clinically sealed the set when he held to love.
Kubler and Polmans struggled to find a first serve in the second set, landing just 9-of-23 as the momentum swung.
They also failed to capitalise on four break-point opportunities, while Johnson and Zielinski – the aggressors from the back of the court – broke with their sole opening, the energetic Pole giving his team a 2-0 edge on a nice lob.
The Australians looked in bother when Kubler was broken to love in the opening game of the third set.
Kubler baulked on his ball toss at 0-40 as he spotted Zielinski quickly shuffle backwards and to his left while preparing to receive.
Zielinski's tactic was obvious, and he doubled-down when the serve did eventually come his way, running around to crush a forehand winner for an early break.
Kubler enquired to the umpire whether Zielinski's pre-serve movement was legal – which it was – but the Aussies didn't wallow for long, breaking immediately back.
Polmans held serve in a challenging seventh game of the third, before the hometown wildcards scrambled to break Johnson the next game.
Kubler and Polmans sealed victory when Zielinski returned a Kubler serve long.
Kubler's fiancee Maddison Inglis - who made the fourth round of the women's singles - cut a nervous figure in the crowd, face down at times, head in hands at others.
“I guess I didn’t see her (live) that much doing all that,” Kubler said. “But then I saw the post of all the different facial reactions, so that’s pretty funny. But I knew Maddy is like that.
“We could be watching – say, tonight, we’re watching the women’s semifinals – and she’ll be like that in the lounge room. She loves watching tennis and always rides the matches regardless.
“I assume because I’m playing, she’s probably a little bit more emotional, I guess. But yeah, when I saw that, I thought that was funny and also cute at the same time.”
Inglis couldn't bear to watch when Kubler and Polmans notched the decisive break to go up 5-3 — but the crowd noise told the story.