Japanese duo Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara will play for their first Grand Slam women's doubles title at the Australian Open following a 6-2, 7-6(7) semifinal victory over Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula on Friday.
Having powered through the first set in 29 minutes, the 10th-seeded Japanese pair were pushed to the limit in the second, winning the tiebreak to complete the upset against the No. 2 seeds at Melbourne Park.
"It was really good to get off to such a strong start," Aoyama said. "We tried to stay calm and patient when we were back at the baseline. At the same time, we tried to apply pressure by going to the net."
Aoyama, 35, and Shibahara, 24, will face Czech top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in Sunday's final.
Doubles specialist Shibahara is aiming for her second career Grand Slam crown after winning last year's French Open mixed doubles with Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.
In the wheelchair women's doubles final, Japan's Yui Kamiji and Chinese partner Zhu Zhenzhen lost 6-3, 6-2 to the Netherlands' Diede De Groot and Aniek Van Koot. Kamiji will have a chance for payback when she faces De Groot in the wheelchair women's singles final.
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