Joe Salisbury booked his place in a first Grand Slam final after bouncing back from a set down at the Australian Open.
The Londoner, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist, and fellow no11 seed Rajeev Ram beat unseeded pairing Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“It’s my first Grand Slam final, I am really excited,” said Salisbury. “It’s something I’ve always dreamt of but it’s a relief to get through that. It wasn’t the highest quality tennis throughout.”
The Anglo-American pair had looked in danger of going out when Salisbury dropped serve early in the third set, but eight double faults across two games by Bublik put them back in the match.
“That was a bit of a shock,” added Salisbury. “I know [Bublik] is renowned for going for big second serves but we were surprised he kept going for it. We’ll take it, though.”
Salisbury and Ram will face Australian wildcards Luke Saville and Max Purcell in Sunday’s final.
