The pair of Shuko Aoyama and Eina Shibahara defeated the pair of second-seeded American players in straight sets in the women's doubles semi-finals at the Australian Open, the four major tennis tournaments, and advanced to the finals for the first time in the four majors. I was.
On the 27th, the 12th day of the Australian Open held in Melbourne, Australia, the semi-finals of the women's doubles were held, and the pair of No. 10 seed Aoyama and Shibahara played against No. , against the pair of Cori Gauff and Jessica Pegula.
In the first set, Shibahara's accurate strokes and Aoyama's quick reaction volley accumulated points and broke the opponent's serve in the first game. I was.
In the second set, they lost 3 games in a row from the start, but they aggressively took the lead and took back 3 games to catch up.
In the tie-break, the opponent took the set point first, but they showed their concentration at the critical moment and won the tie-break with a score of 9-7. I won.
The pair of Aoyama and Shibahara will advance to the finals for the first time in the Grand Slam tournament, and will face the No. 1-seeded Czech pair of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the finals.
This is the second pair of Japanese players to advance to the finals of the women's doubles at the Grand Slam tournament, following Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya at the 2018 French Open. Lost to a pair of players and became the runner-up.
What is Shuko Aoyama?
Shuko Aoyama is 35 years old from Tokyo.
She has led the Japanese women's doubles team with her good footwork that covers the entire court and her pouch that pops out at the right time.
She turned pro in 2010 and in 2019 she paired with Shibahara for the first time to finish runner-up in her first tour event.
She has won eight tour titles in doubles with Shibahara.
In her Grand Slam tournaments, the 2021 Wimbledon Championships and last year's Australian Open quarter-finals are her best results, and her first appearance in the final.
What is Eina Shibahara?
Eina Shibahara is 24 years old from California, USA.
She emigrated to America because of her father's work, and she started playing tennis at the age of seven.
At the age of 8, she was named a United States Tennis Association Strengthening Player.
She has a powerful forehand and a high-hopping kick serve that she learned from her brother.
She sent a message to Aoyama, who is a leading doubles player, via SNS saying, "I want to play together," and approached him on the bus heading to the tour tournament, forming a pair. Did.
Shibahara last year paired with a Dutch player in mixed doubles at the French Open, becoming the first Japanese player to win the French Open in 25 years.