There was home delight for the green and gold on Wednesday, as Matt Ebden and Max Purcell continued to tear up the men's doubles draw at Australian Open 2022.
The Australian duo eliminated 10th seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 3-6 6-4 7-6[10-6] to sneak into the semifinals.
MORE: All the scores from Day 10 at AO 2022
"They made it so tough for us," said Ebden, after the home pairing ended Koolhof/Skupski's 11-match, two-title winning streak.
MORE: AO 2022 men's doubles draw
"We really lifted our game at the end of the second set … then until the end, we just hung tough."
For Ebden, into his maiden men's doubles semifinal, the victory highlighted his unity and teamwork with Purcell in progressing past three seeded pairs so far this week.
"It's nice to play with a partner, you both feel like you can both do everything, no real limitations," stated the 34-year-old.
"Forehand, backhand, serve, any spot, return, any spot, any kind of shot or volley. Our athleticism is obviously our strength. Two of the best movers on the doubles court, I think. We can jump."
Ebden and Purcell's confidence is understandably high, and they advance for a US Open rematch with second seeded Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. The American-British combination defeated Purcell (with Luke Saville) in the 2020 final at Melbourne Park.
Ram and Salisbury, who dismissed Italians Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini 6-3 6-2 on Wednesday, also saved four match points to bring heartache for Ebden and Purcell in the 2021 US Open last eight.
"They're a quality pair. We really want to go for them. We want to win slam titles, for sure. I want to win lots of them. No secret there," insisted Ebden.
"To be the best you have to beat the best. I think now in the last couple of slams we're probably one of the best teams, too. Should be a great shootout. Last time in New York, maybe that one-point difference can be made in our home slam like it was today."
There was local joy in mixed doubles on Day 10 too, with Australian wildcard pairing Jaimee Fourlis and Jason Kubler winning through to Friday's final by overcoming Czech Lucie Hradecka and Ecuador's Gonzalo Escobar 2-6 7-6(2) [10-6].
Fourliss and Kubler advanced to the decider to face Ivan Dodig and Kristina Mladenovic, who posted a 1-6 7-5 [10-2] victory over John Peers and Zhang Shuai.
Over to women's doubles play on Wednesday, and the formidable top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Ekaterina Siniakova edged through to the last four 6-2 7-6(3) over ninth seeds Caroline Dolehide and Storm Sanders.
The three-time major winning duo lifted a second Roland Garros title, struck Olympic doubles gold and tasted WTA Finals glory in a sublime 2021. Now, they're well and truly the hunted.
MORE: AO 2022 women's doubles draw
"I'm really happy with how we handled the match, and looking forward to play semifinals," said Krejcikova.
"We have to focus on every single match, because I feel like everybody wants to beat us. So I find it maybe more difficult right now. I'm very happy with the way how we played last year, and I think so far this year we are doing great job as well. I'm just looking forward to see how far we can go."
Krejcikova and Siniakova, defeated finalists last February at Melbourne Park, will vie for another final ticket in a duel with Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens. The third seeds booked their semifinal berth with a 6-3 6-4 victory against Kirsten Flipkens and Sara Sorribes Tormo.