Three Australians have made their way into the Quad wheelchair doubles semi-finals at Melbourne Park.
Ranked 6th in the doubles rankings, Victorian Heath Davidson, who partnered Dylan Alcott to Grand Slams and doubles titles alike, partnered Canadian Robert Shaw to defeat David Wagner and Diego Perez 6-0 6-2.
In the top half of the draw, Finn Broadbent and Jin Woodman, who lost his singles quarter-final earlier in the day, defeated the Brazillian pairing of Leandro Pena and Ymanitu for their maiden Grand Slam win. Requiring a wildcard to get into the event, the much younger Australians (born in 2001 and 2009 respectively) earned a hard-fought 6-3 7-6 win.
Broadbent and Woodman will face the first seeds in the semi-finals while Davidson and Shaw will take on the second-seeded pairing for a potential all-Australian semi-final.
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Elsewhere, Ben Wenzel became the first Australian to win a junior wheelchair match at the Australian Open defeating his Brazillian opponent Luiz Calixto 6-0 6-1 in their round-robin match.
The last remaining Aussie hopes lie in the girl's draw for Tahlia Kokkinis and Emerson Jones in singles action, both girls advancing to the final eight, marking the first time that two Australian girls have achieved the feat in nine years.
Jones also moved to the final four in doubles action.
Kokkinis returned from a first-set deficit to win and book a spot in today's semi-final against fourth-seeded Japanese player Sonobe Wakana.
The Aussie overcame qualifier Brooke Black from Great Britain in an almost two-hour matchup on Court 3 with a score of 5-7 6-1 6-3.
However, Kokkinis quickly changed the momentum, hitting eight winners and only four unforced errors in the second set. She converted three break points, swinging hard from the forehand wing creating opportunities whilst keeping Black on the back foot to take the set.
She continued with the aggressive play in the decider, hitting a staggering 13 winners to only six unforced errors. The Aussie took the pivotal break in the fourth game and continued to control the match, winning the match in one hour and 53 minutes.
Top-seed Jones continued her quest for a maiden junior Grand Slam title with an impressive 6-3 6-2 win over qualifier Yuliya Perapekhina.
The Aussie raced to a swift 4-1 lead in the first set. However, Perapekhina found a way to change the rhythm and take the next two games.
Jones stayed in control of the match, carrying the momentum into the second set capitalising on a break point with a forehand winner to break in the first game.
She continued to hold serve and play with confidence from the forehand win to set up a 4-2 buffer. In the seventh game, the Aussie broke to love with the help of a double fault to lead comfortably at 5-2.
The 16-year-old then also held to love with three forced errors from the Perapekhina racquet and a backhand winner.
With this win, the Aussie punched her ticket into the quarter-finals where she will face Austrian Lilli Tagger.
Jones returned to the court with British partner Hannah Klugman in doubles quarter-final action as the second-seeded pair faced China’s Wang Yuhan and Thailand’s Kamonwan Yodpetch. They won a tough 6-2 2-6 10-7 battle to advance to the semi-finals tomorrow against fourth-seeded Czech pair, Vendula Valdmannova and Tereza Krejcova.
The second seeds ran out of the blocks, quickly gaining a 3-0 lead. They swiftly closed out the set featuring great aggression and net play.
Jones and Klugman held their nerve and used smart net play to stay in control of the deciding tiebreak. A backhand winner edged them closer to the finish line, giving them an 8-4 lead. Errors off the opponent's racquets finally allowed the second seeds to take the tie-break 10-7 and secure their spot in the semi-finals.
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