Three of the four top seeds in women’s doubles advanced to the semifinals at Australian Open 2021 on Tuesday – with the outsiders keeping their surprising spell going thanks to yet another win that went the distance.
MORE: All the scores from Day 9 at AO 2021
That would be the unseeded duo of Nina Stojanovic and Darija Jurak, who topped Aleksandra Krunic and Martina Trevisan 6-7(3) 6-3 6-2.
It is turning out to be a memorable fortnight indeed for Stojanovic, who recorded a first Grand Slam victory in singles and shared the court with Serena Williams in the second round.
She sat in the box of fellow Serb Novak Djokovic, too, during his fourth-round outing against Milos Raonic.
Stojanovic and Jurak stunned top-seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Barbora Strycova in the second round, which came after they trailed 5-3 in the third.
All four of their wins have come in three sets.
They face Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the last four after the powerhouse Czech duo – two-time Grand Slam winners together – overcame Sharon Fichman and Giuliana Olmos 7-5 5-7 6-2.
Krejcikova and Siniakova didn't flinch after missing three set points in the second.
Both pairs in the bottom half of the draw went through in straight sets.
Elise Mertens and Aryna Sabalenka put aside their singles disappointment – both exiting in the fourth round – to cruise past Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara 6-2 6-0, while Nicole Melichar and Demi Schuurs ended the stint of Coco Gauff and Caty McNally 7-6(4) 6-1.
Sabalenka and Mertens, the 2019 US Open titlists, converted on all five of their break points and only dropped 12 points on serve.
Melichar and Schuurs, vitally, clawed back from a 4-1 deficit in the first set.
Opportunity knocks for each of the teams, since Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic – who contested the previous three finals, winning twice – weren’t in the draw.
The first men’s semifinal is set, but it won’t include 2019 champions Nicolas Mahut and Pierre Hugues Herbert. The Frenchmen fell to second-seeds Mate Pavic – the 2018 winner alongside Oliver Marach – and Nikola Mektic 6-4 4-6 7-6(3).
Mektic and Pavic next battle Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek, who won another three-setter, 6-4 2-6 6-4, over Australian wildcards Matt Ebden and John Patrick Smith.