The stunning doubles campaign of Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis continues to capture the crowd's imagination at the Australian Open, with the local duo reaching the men's final at Melbourne Park.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis were granted a wildcard into the men's doubles draw, but they have picked off four seeded pairs to force their way into the tournament decider.
The 'Special Ks' defeated third seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in this afternoon's semifinal on Rod Laver Arena, winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
The crowd erupted when the Australians clinched the result, with Kyrgios sprinting to embrace Kokkinakis at the baseline to celebrate the win.
They will meet fellow Australians Matt Ebden and Max Purcell in the final.
Ebden and Purcell upset second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 6-3, 7-6 (11-9) in their semifinal.
It will be the first all-Australian men's doubles final since 1980 when Mark Edmondson and Kim Warwick defeated Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee.
The crowd inside Rod Laver Arena made no secret of where their allegiance lay during the semifinal, a fact warmly appreciated by Kyrgios.
"I have played a lot of singles matches around the globe with amazing atmospheres, but this week with Thanasi playing in front of you, nothing beats this," Kyrgios said in their on-court interview.
"This is insane."
"To be honest, it is all about the crowd and the atmosphere that is what gets is going," Kokkinakis added.
It was a change of scenery for Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, who played their previous three matches in front of packed houses on the show court Kia Arena.
Tournament organisers decided to stage this afternoon's match on Rod Laver Arena, allowing spectators holding ground passes entry to the centre court.
The Victorian government had also given the green light to raise spectator capacity to 65 per cent.
At least one spectator was upset by the choice of court, however, yelling out, "Why did this have to get played on Rod?" early in the match.
But the decision did not seem to dampen the spirits of others in the crowd, nor that of Kyrgios and Kokkinakis.
They were met by another rowdy reception when their semifinal got underway, with Kyrgios gesturing wildly to the crowd after they won the opening point of Zeballos's serve.
The now-infamous "siuu" call rang out, and not long after a chant "Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" filled the air, but Zeballos and Granollers showed no signs of being intimidated.
They held serve throughout the set, as did Kyrgios and Kokkinakis, with neither pair giving up a break point.
Kokkinakis did struggle with his serve in the 12th game, with a time violation not helping to ease the tension, but he went on to hold and force a tiebreak.
The Australians shot out to a 5-2 lead in the tiebreak, before Kyrgios served for the set at 6-3.
The first set point was squandered, but a penetrative Kyrgios serve forced an error from their opponents to wrap up the tiebreak 7-4.
The crowd roared its approval and they were buoyed even further when Kyrgios and Kokkinakis strengthened their hold on the match early in the second set.
They broke Granollers's serve, converting on a fourth break point with a Kokkinakis backhand winner, and by winning their next service game they led 3-0.
But Granollers and Zeballo fought their way back into the set when they broke back in the seventh game.
It was at this point that Kyrgios's frustration boiled over. He smashed his racquet on the court, which earned him a code violation, and proceeded to launch a lengthy tirade at chair umpire James Keothavong as he complained about crowd noise.
"When are you going to control the crowd, bro?" Kyrgios queried Keothavong at the change of ends.
Kyrgios and Kokkinakis later asked Keothavong to request spectators to stop calling out between first and second serves.
The set continued on serve until the ninth game when Kyrgios and Kokkinakis pounced when leading 5-4.
With Granollers serving, Kyrgios and Kokkinakis gained two match points and they made no mistake with the first to book their berth in the final.
