Murray/Soares Earn Back-To-Back Wins, Reach Great Ocean Road Open Final
On an action-packed day of doubles at the Great Ocean Road Open, Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares claimed back-to-back wins to reach the championship match in their comeback event.
The 10-time tour-level team titlists claimed a 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 quarter-final win against Alexander Bublik and Andrey Golubev and doubled their Saturday win tally with a 6-2, 7-6(0) victory against Antlaya finalists Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek.
Murray and Soares are competing together for the first time since 2019 Roland Garros this week. The second seeds are chasing their fourth title as a team on Australian soil, with past title runs at the Australian Open (2016) and Sydney (2016, ’19).
[WATCH LIVE 2]Murray and Soares will meet top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah for the trophy. Cabal and Farah started the day with a 6-3, 6-4 win against sixth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Matwe Middelkoop and returned to the court later in the day to defeat Matthew Ebden and John-Patrick Smith 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals.
The Colombians will attempt to capture their first trophy since the 2019 US Open in Sunday’s championship match. Cabal and Farah finished as the runner-up team in Acapulco (l. to Kubot/Melo) and Sardinia (l. to Daniell/Oswald) last year.
Unbeaten Mektic/Pavic Reach Murray River Open Final
Top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic extended their unbeaten team record to seven matches on Saturday, as they claimed two Match Tie-break wins to advance to the Murray River Open final.
The Antalya champions were tested throughout the day in Melbourne, as they beat Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 7-6(4), 3-6, 10-6 in the quarter-finals and then overcame Delray Beach titlists Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar 6-7(4), 7-5, 10-7 in the semi-finals.
The Croatian duo will attempt to add a second crown to their 2021 collection on Sunday, when they face Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin in the final. The Frenchmen upset second seeds Wesley Koolhof and Lukasz Kubot 7-6(8), 6-3 in the quarter-finals and claimed a 7-6(4), 6-7(2), 10-8 semi-final win against Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez.