Granollers and Zeballos Advance in Melbourne’s Doubles Surge

In the baking heat of Melbourne Park, Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos carved out a 6-3, 6-4 win over Orlando Luz and Rafael Matos, propelling the third seeds into the Australian Open semifinals. As the highest-ranked team remaining, they absorbed the Brazilians’ probing crosscourt passes with steady returns, their heavy topspin forehands gripping the hard courts to force errors in key moments. This straight-sets victory edges them closer to a maiden Australian Open title, building on last year’s breakthroughs at Roland Garros and the US Open.

Seeds navigate unproven rivals

Next up for Granollers and Zeballos stand sixth seeds Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski, a pairing in just their second tournament after both appeared at the Nitto ATP Finals with different partners. The American-British duo overwhelmed Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl 6-2, 6-3, blending Skupski’s slice serves with Harrison’s net finishes to expose gaps in more settled teams. Their fresh dynamic tests the Spaniards’ experience, especially on courts where low bounces demand precise one–two patterns to disrupt rhythm.

Granollers‘s deft underspin kept Luz pinned back, while Zeballos‘s inside-out forehands opened angles for volleys that sealed the second set. The pressure mounts here, with the duo’s 78 percent break-point conversion rate in the tournament underscoring their efficiency against foes still syncing swings. A win would silence doubts from past semifinal exits in Melbourne, thrusting them toward a third major in as many years.

Upsets ignite top-half fire

Across the draw, Luke Johnson and Jan Zielinski stunned fourth seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 7-6(5), 6-2, converting three of four break points to claim their first major semifinal together. The unseeded pair’s deep returns and inside-in forehands rattled the former World No. 1s, turning a tense tiebreak into a momentum shift that echoed through the bracket. Stats show their poaching at net disrupted Pavic’s usual serve-and-volley flow, a tactical edge honed on these skidding surfaces.

Awaiting them are Aussie wild cards Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans, who grinded down 12th seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 6-4, 7-6(3) amid Tuesday’s crowd roar. Kubler draws on his 2023 Australian Open triumph partnering Rinky Hijikata to topple Hugo Nys and Zielinski, while Polmans savors a Melbourne semifinal return since 2017. Their baseline grinding and low slices could counter the Brits’ aggression, setting up a clash where home energy meets upset grit.

Hard courts demand adaptation

The Australian Open’s plexicushion surface rewards topspin’s bite while punishing flat trajectories, a shift Granollers and Zeballos have mastered through prior deep runs here. With top seeds scattered by surprises like Johnson-Zielinski’s poise, the semifinals pit veterans against newcomers in a bid for finals spots. Harrison and Skupski‘s mixed-surface savvy might force adjustments, but the Spaniards’ crosscourt returns could exploit any early lapses in the transatlantic tandem’s cohesion.

For Kubler and Polmans, familiarity with Melbourne’s bounce—echoing Kubler’s prior glory—fuels their charge, their steady rallies weathering Doumbia’s returns in that tight second-set tiebreak. Zielinski’s deep groundstrokes will need to vary pace with underspin lobs to avoid Kubler’s low-bouncing defenses. As semifinals dawn, these matchups promise tactical chess under the sun, where one break or volley could redefine doubles legacies on these courts.