28 January 2022 | Tennis Queensland

Teamed for the first time at Melbourne Park this fortnight, Queenslander Jason Kubler and doubles partner Jaimee Fourlis will compete for a maiden Grand Slam title in the 2022 Australian Open Mixed Doubles Final.

Saving a match point in their semifinal, the pair stunned Lucie Hradecka and Gonzalo Escobar 2-6, 7-6(2) [10-6] to advance to the championship match.

It follows wins this fortnight over experienced teams including No.7 seeds Nina Stojanovic and Mate Pavic. Compatriots Sam Stosur and Matt Ebden, the AO 2021 runners-up, were also victim to the Australian wildcards.

In arguably the biggest match of their careers so far, the Australian’s will face No.5 Seeds Kristina Mladenovic and Ivan Dodig of France, who overcame Zhang Shuai and John Peers in the other semifinal, in the final on Friday.

“Jason was a talented junior, at the age of 14 he won two international events and was the Number 1 in the World for the under 18s age group. As a junior, he was described as a young Nadal. Sport hasn’t been kind to his body and making the finals is a small reward for a career that has been plagued by injuries,” says Jason’s junior coach Gary Stickler of Lifetime Tennis.

“Jason also played a lot of doubles with his brother Jonathan as a junior, they would regularly compete in local competitions, including the Tennis Brisbane Super League Teams,” says Gary.

“It is great to see another Queenslander having success in the mixed doubles. Queensland has a rich history of doubles at the AO with John-Patrick Smith, Sam Stosur, Ash Barty and Scott Draper having won and contested finals respectively in the last decade,” says Tennis Queensland General Manager, Elia Hill.

“Doubles plays an important role in the development of our sport. It forces players to hit a wider variety of shots than you would in singles and stresses the importance of serve placement and improvisation.”

The final will be played at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on Friday 28 January 2022 from 11am.