Australian Open: Is there the next double miracle?
With Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler , two local heroes made it into the doubles final of the Australian Open, which nobody had on their list before the tournament started.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jan 26, 2023, 07:21 am
A year after Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis caused a sensation at their home Grand Slam and clinched the title, two other Australians are one win away from also celebrating a barely-thinkable triumph at home. In contrast to Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, both of whom had already collected their merits in the individual, Jason Kubler and Rinky Hijikata's entry into the final was a few degrees more surprising.
So far, the two have not been particularly positive in singles (Hijikata lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in round two after a win against Yannick Hanfmann; Kubler against Karen Khachanov), nor have there been any successes in doubles. A wildcard was required to take part in the first major highlight of the season. But that didn't stop the two from moving into the final of the Australian Open 2023 with a 6: 4 and 6: 2 against Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.
The favorites fail early
There, the Australians meet a pairing that also started unseeded in the 64 grid: Jan Zielinski and Hugo Nys. The Pole and his Monegasque partner won their semi-finals against Frenchmen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 6-3, 5-7 and 6-2.
But what happened to the favorites overall? Well, Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski, who started at number one, went down to Hijikata and Kubler in the quarterfinals. Number two doubles, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, get caught a round earlier - against now finalists Nys and Zielinski. Marcelo Arevalos and Jean-Julien Rojer, the reigning French Open champions, had to pack their bags in the quarterfinals against Chardy/Martin. And fourth-seeded Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic only made it into round two, where they lost to Alex Bolt and Luke Saville.
Here the double tableau in Melbourne
laver arena