A year on from Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios's march to a remarkable Australian Open doubles victory, local wildcards Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler are through to the men's final as they continue their inspiring run in Melbourne.
Hijikata and Kubler have a chance to emulate Kokkinakis and Kyrgios's unlikely title triumph last year after downing eighth seeds Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers in Thursday's semifinals.
The Australian duo claimed a hard-fought first set before finishing the job 6-4, 6-2 in 63 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.
"With each match we get more confident and feel more at home on these big courts," Kubler said in their on-court interview.
Zeballos and Granollers are the same pair Kokkinakis and Kyrgios defeated in last year's Australian Open semifinals.
But that is where the similarities between the Special Ks and Hijikata and Kubler end.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios whipped raucous crowds into a frenzy last year, while Hijikata and Kubler have quietly gone about their business with little fuss.
This accomplishment adds to Kubler's remarkable resurgence over the past year, which started with him making the 2022 mixed doubles final at Melbourne Park with compatriot Jaimee Fourlis.
Kubler reached the second week at Wimbledon and was Australia's last man standing at the French Open, while also making the second round at Flushing Meadows for a second time.
Hijikata exited the men's singles in the second round at Open with a straight-sets loss to Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas.
"I was still pretty bummed about my singles match, to be honest," Hijikata said when asked if he thought they could make a deep doubles run before the tournament.
"But yeah, wow, we'll take it for sure."
Hijikata and Kubler will meet fellow unseeded pair Hugo Nys from Monaco and Poland's Jan Zielinski in Saturday night's final after they defeated French duo Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in the other semifinal.
AAP
