John Peers and Henri Kontinen are on track for a second Australian Open men’s doubles title, the Australian/Finnish pairing booking a blockbuster final against Roland Garros champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
Peers and Mayer advanced to the decider with a 6-1 7-6(6) victory over Leonardo Mayer and Joao Sousa on Thursday.
“It was great to get through that one today. Everything went our way in the first set and then I couldn’t quite get through my game serving for the match, gave ourselves a scare, but we battled throughout and played a good tiebreak,” said Peers, delighted to be back in the final on home soil.
“It’s always great to do well at your home Slam and put in a good performance, especially after the way we finished off last year.”
Kontinen/Peers entered the Australian Open on a seven-match losing streak stretching back to the US Open.
“Let’s try to win a match,” quipped Kontinen, revealing their plan to reinvigorate their game in 2019.
“We had a bad run in 2018, but managed to win the first one here and the ball has been rolling ever since.”
The AO 2017 champions blitzed through a 6-1 opening set, and appeared to clinch a decisive break at 3-3 in the second set courtesy of Kontinen’s interception volley.
At 5-4 on match point, Peers deflected a backhand down the line which narrowly missed the alley. Having held, their opponents went for broke, and Sousa’s backhand return winner claimed the break back.
The match went into a tense tiebreak, and Kontinen’s forehand pass arrowed down the line to post 4-1 on the scoreboard. The Finn blazed down an ace for 5-1, but once again Mayer/Sousa stormed back to level for 6-6.
Peers applied the pressure with crisp volleys, before an overhead collected a second match point. Kontinen’s booming delivery did the business, and the celebrations began.
Fifth seeds Herbert and Mahut are on the march to complete their career Grand Slam at Melbourne Park.
The Frenchmen, holders of the French Open, have also won the 2015 US Open and 2016 Wimbledon as a pair, but fell in the Australian Open 2015 finale.
Herbert and Mahut navigated past the formidable Bryan Brothers in the quarterfinals, and outclassed another American partnership in Ryan Harrison and Sam Querrey 6-4 6-2 on Thursday.
“We’re so happy to be in the final for the second time with Nico. Last time was when we first started to play together,” said Herbert, who reached the third round in singles last week, having defeated Querrey in the opening contest.
“We made a nice run to the final. We have a chance to go one step better, but still we will make sure we enjoy the final on Rod Laver Arena.
“Always a lot of support here in Australia. I also have my neighbours here from Flagstaff here supporting us, so it’s amazing to have so much support and we’re so happy to be in the final.”
Herbert/Mahut broke Harrison in the opening game, an advantage they held by commanding the net exchanges.
Whilst serving out the opener, Herbert managed to flick a forehand volley onto the tramlines despite the blistering power from a Querrey smash.
The Frenchmen flew through the second set, leaving Mahut reflecting on the 2015 final 6-4 6-4 defeat by Italians Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli.
“We were so disappointed as we didn’t play so good in that final. But it was a great experience for us in our first tournament together. Four years later, here we are back in the final,” said Mahut, hoping for a stronger showing on Sunday to complete the career Grand Slam.
“It’s very exciting. We’re going to have a tough one against John and ‘Konti’. Still, it’s a final and if we keep playing this way, we will definitely have a chance.”
In mixed doubles, there was another home success after Australian duo Astra Sharma and John Patrick Smith defeated formidable second seeds Bruno Soares and Nicole Melichar to book a final ticket.
The Aussies have teamed up for their first tournament together, but looked like seasoned partners during a high-quality contest.
A 6-4 7-6(5) triumph sends the home pair onto face third seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Rajeev Ram for the trophy on Saturday.
“I think it was a pretty crucial first game because otherwise it was all on serve,” said Sharma, having struck a fine forehand passing shot to help break in the first game.
“It’s unreal to get through, I can’t even think right now.”
Sharma had even more cause to celebrate after qualifying for the main draw in Melbourne, while Thursday marked Smith’s 30th birthday.
“Astra was really carrying me out there,” said Smith.
“I was struggling to get a return on. She played some really sharp stuff at the net, she’s playing really well. That was a lot of fun.”