Istanbul, Turkey, 13 September 2020 | Leigh Rogers

Ellen Perez and Storm Sanders are into their first WTA-level final as a team.

The left-handed duo advanced to the Istanbul championship match with a 7-5 6-3 win over Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova and Ukrainian Katarina Zavatska overnight.

This is Perez and Sanders’ sixth tour-level tournament together this season and improves their win-loss record to 9-5. They have made the quarterfinals or better in four of these appearances.

Perez and Sanders, who are yet to drop a set this week, now play top seeds Alexa Guarachi of Chile and American Desirae Krawczyk for the title.

The 24-year-old Perez is hoping to win her second WTA doubles title, while 26-year-old Sanders is targeting a third.

Dubs final tomorrow 💥 @TennisChampIst @WTA @EllenPerez95 pic.twitter.com/cQ70h53zgR

— Storm Sanders (@stormsanders94) September 12, 2020

Rome, Italy

Three Australians scored opening-round qualifying wins at the Rome Masters overnight.

James Duckworth was leading 7-6(2) 4-0 when his No.86-ranked Japanese opponent Yasutaka Uchiyama retired. It marks a first tour-level win for the 28-year-old Duckworth since February.

Alexei Popyrin won an all-Australian battle against Luke Saville 6-3 7-6(6), while Marc Polmans defeated former world No.10 Ernests Gulbis 7-6(6) 6-1.

Russian Daria Kasatkina, another former world No.10, posted a 6-0 6-1 win against Arina Rodionova in women’s qualifying action.

Upcoming matches:

Men’s qualifying, second round
James Duckworth (AUS) v Facundo Bagnis (ARG)
Marc Polmans (AUS) v [11] Mikael Ymer (SWE)
Alexei Popyrin (AUS) v [1] Tennys Sandgren (USA)

Men’s singles, first round
Alex de Minaur (AUS) v qualifier
John Millman (AUS) v qualifier

Women’s singles, first round
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v Marie Bouzkova (CZE)

Men’s doubles, first round
Alex de Minaur (AUS)/Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) v [1] Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL)/Robert Farah (COL)
Max Purcell (AUS)/Luke Saville (AUS) v  [7] Raven Klaasen (RSA)/Oliver Marach (AUT)
John Peers (AUS)/Michael Venus (NZL) v Jamie Murray (GBR)/Neal Skupski (GBR)