MATCH POINTS
No.1 seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Barbora Strycova, the reigning Wimbledon champions, have split two previous meetings in the past seven months with No.2 seeds Timea Babos and Kristina Mladenovic, the reigning Roland Garros champions. Hsieh and Strycova won 7-6(5), 6-4 in the Wimbledon semifinals, before Babos and Mladenovic avenged the loss 6-1, 6-3 in the WTA Finals Shenzhen final.
Babos and Mladenovic are in their third straight Australian Open final, having lifted the trophy in 2018 and been runners-up to Samantha Stosur and Zhang Shuai in 2019. As a pair, the Franco-Hungarian duo have a 2-3 record in Grand Slam finals, while overall, Babos's record is 2-4 in women's doubles finals (2-6 including mixed doubles) and Mladenovic's is 3-4 (5-6 including mixed).
Hsieh is guaranteed to return to the doubles World No.1 ranking after the Australian Open for the first time since 2014 - taking over from her own partner Strycova. The Chinese Taipei-Czech pair are 1-0 in Grand Slam finals together (Strycova's only major final in any professional discipline), while Hsieh is 3-0 overall. Hsieh and Strycova have opened 2020 with a nine-match winning streak, having taken the title in Brisbane in the first week of the season, while Babos and Mladenovic are on an eight-match winning streak stretching back to their 2019 WTA Finals title.
In mixed doubles, the two most recent Australian Open champions face each other in the semifinals - with different partners. 2018 winner Gabriela Dabrowski and defending champion Barbora Krejcikova won their titles with Mate Pavic and Rajeev Ram respectively, but are playing in first-time teams this week with Henri Kontinen and Nikola Mektic. Meanwhile, the other semifinal finds reigning US Open champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jamie Murray taking on last year's finalists Astra Sharma and John-Patrick Smith.
In girls' singles, 14-year-old No.9 seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva is the youngest player remaining, and is bidding to become the first Andorran to reach a Grand Slam final. Jimenez Kasintseva faces 17-year-old No.13 seed Bai Zhuoxuan, the WTA World No.823 who reached the final qualifying round of Zhengzhou in September, scoring her first Top 200 victory over Han Xinyun as well as defeating former World No.59 Alexandra Cadantu en route. The other semifinal pits 18-year-old WTA World No.1258 Alexandra Vecic against 17-year-old Weronika Baszak.
In girls doubles, 14-year-old Alexandra Eala is bidding to become the first ever female Grand Slam champion from the Philippines, partnering 16-year-old Priska Nugroho, who is aiming to become the first Indonesian to lift a Grand Slam trophy since Tami Grende became the 2014 Wimbledon girls' doubles champion alongside Ye Qiu-Yu. Eala and Nugroho will face 17-year-old Ziva Falkner, seeking to become the first Slovenian Grand Slam champion since Kaja Juvan won the 2017 Wimbledon girls' doubles with Olga Danilovic, and 15-year-old Matilda Mutavdzic, who would be the first British Grand Slam winner since Heather Watson won the 2009 US Open girls' singles.
TRENDING
ORDER OF PLAY
ROD LAVER ARENA (starts 1.30pm)
[3] Gabriela DABROWSKI (CAN) / Henri KONTINEN (FIN) vs [5] Barbora KREJCIKOVA (CZE) / Nikola MEKTIC (CRO)
Not before 3pm
Bethanie MATTEK-SANDS (USA) / Jamie MURRAY (GBR) vs [WC] Astra SHARMA (AUS) / John-Patrick SMITH (AUS)
Not before 4pm
[1] HSIEH Su-Wei (TPE) / Barbora STRYCOVA (CZE) vs [2] Timea BABOS (HUN) / Kristina MLADENOVIC (FRA)
COURT 3 (starts 3pm)
[4] Alexandra EALA (PHI) / Priska NUGROHO (INA) vs Ziva FALKNER (SLO) / Matilda MUTAVDZIC (GBR)
COURT 5 (starts 3pm)
After 1 Boys' match
Alexandra VECIC (GER) vs Weronika BASZAK (POL)
COURT 7 (starts 3pm)
After 1 Boys' match
[13] BAI Zhuoxuan (CHN) vs [9] Victoria JIMENEZ KASINTSEVA (AND)
READING
Sofia Kenin against Garbiñe Muguruza might not be a final predicted by many two weeks ago - but the players in question have not doubted themselves this fortnight, writes D'Arcy Maine for ESPN.com.
Girls' No.9 seed Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva is trailblazing for the microstate of Andorra, population 77,000 - and Reem Abulleil has found out more about the left-hander's journey from a country with only one indoor court to the Grand Slam stage for ausopen.com.
WATCHING
