New York, USA, 8 September 2021 | Leigh Rogers

John Peers is enjoying his best US Open run in four years, progressing through to the men’s doubles semifinals.

The 33-year-old Australian and Slovak Filip Polasek only needed 58 minutes to book their semifinal spot today, scoring a comprehensive 6-2 6-3 win against five-time major champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.

The No.8-seeded Peers and Polasek hit 10 aces and did not face a break point throughout their match. They hit 30 winners and finished with only five unforced errors to dominate their No.3-seeded opponents.

This is world No.25 Peers’ best Grand Slam result since reaching the Australian Open final in 2019 and his best performance in New York since 2017.

There have been 31 Australians reach a US Open men’s doubles semifinal in the Open era. Peers joins elite company however, becoming only the 10th to make three.

US Open men’s doubles – Australian semifinalists in Open era
Ken Rosewall 1969, 1970, 1973
Fred Stolle 1969, 1970, 1979, 1981
Roy Emerson 1969, 1970, 1979
Rod Laver 1969, 1970, 1973
John Newcombe 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1981
Owen Davidson 1972, 1973
Tony Roche 1974
Syd Ball 1974, 1977
Ray Keldie 1974
Paul Kronk 1976
Cliff Letcher 1976
Ray Ruffels 1976
Allan Stone 1976
Chris Kachel 1976
Bob Carmichael 1977
Kim Warwick 1977
Mark Edmondson 1978
John Marks 1978
Paul McNamee 1980
Peter McNamara 1980, 1981
Pat Cash 1983
John Fitzgerald 1983, 1984, 1989, 1991
Mark Woodforde 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996
Todd Woodbridge 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2003
Sandon Stolle 1995, 1998, 2001
Pat Rafter 1996
Mark Philippoussis 1996
Lleyton Hewitt 2000
Paul Hanley 2006, 2007
Ashley Fisher 2006
John Peers 2015, 2017, 2021

Note: Bold = Title-winning runs

Max Purcell and Matthew Ebden almost joined Peers in the semifinals, but lost a heart-breaking quarterfinal to fourth seeds American Rajeev Ram and Brit Joe Salisbury today.

The Australian Open 2020 champions prevailed 7-6(7) 6-7(6) 7-6(10) in a two-hour and 58-minute battle that featured no breaks of serve.

Purcell and Ebden had four match points in the third-set tiebreak, which would have propelled them into their first US Open semifinal.

In the semifinals, Peers and Polasek will play Brit Jamie Murray and Brazilian Bruno Soares. The seventh seeds were the US Open champions in 2016.

Earlier today, Sam Stosur and China’s Zhang Shuai advanced to the semifinals in the women’s doubles competition.

> READ: Stosur reaches sixth US Open doubles semifinal

Aussies in action – US Open

TODAY’S RESULTS
Men’s doubles, quarterfinals
[8] John Peers (AUS)/Filip Polasek (SVK) d [3] Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA)/Nicolas Mahut (FRA) 6-2 6-3
[4] Rajeev Ram (USA)/Joe Salisbury (GBR) d Max Purcell (AUS)/Matthew Ebden (AUS) 7-6(7) 6-7(6) 7-6(10)

Women’s doubles, quarterfinals
[14] Sam Stosur (AUS)/Zhang Shuai (CHN) d [10] Storm Sanders (AUS)/Caroline Dolehide (USA) 6-2 6-3

COMING UP
Women’s doubles, semifinals
[14] Sam Stosur (AUS)/Zhang Shuai (CHN) v TBC

Men’s doubles, semifinals
[8] John Peers (AUS)/Filip Polasek (SVK) v [7] Jamie Murray (GBR)/Bruno Soares (BRA)