WA tennis has a lot to be proud of, with rising tennis star Astra Sharma last night surging her way through to the Mixed Doubles Final at the Australian Open, with partner John-Patrick Smith. Sharma joins fellow West Australian, John Peers in the hunt for a Grand Slam title, as he competes in the Men’s Double’s Final this weekend with partner Henri Kontinen.
Sharma’s win completes an Aussie doubles trifecta with Samantha Stosur also winning her way through to the Women’s Doubles Final.
Sharma and Smith appeared un-phased by the limelight of playing on Rod Laver Arena last night, winning in straight sets against the second-seeded pairing of American Nicole Melichar and Brazilian Bruno Soares 6-4 7-6(5) to reach their first major decider.
On Thursday night, Smith had even more reason to celebrate, triumphing on his 30th birthday.
Sharma, a 23-year-old Western Australian, with affiliations to Bull Creek Tennis Club and Kardinya Tennis Club, and Smith, a veteran from Townsville, had limited knowledge of each other before pairing together this fortnight.
They’ve clearly struck it off, defeating multiple-major winners Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jamie Murray in the quarterfinal before Thursday night’s triumph.
“Just speechless really. Can’t really believe the situation we’re in. Just to keep beating such high-quality opponents, I mean, coming into this I had zero expectations and now I’m just absolutely over the moon,” Sharma said.
As Smith acknowledged, Sharma was the star, continuing her fine form in singles at Melbourne Park.
Sharma, the world No.232, qualified for her first major tournament and won her first-round match to ensure a huge rankings drop.
“Obviously it’s been so much fun, these two weeks here. Very thankful for the opportunity,” Smith said. “And playing with Astra – it’s her first Slam, so she’s doing fantastic. And I’m just glad I got the opportunity to play with her.
“I think Astra’s fearless out there; she goes for her shots, goes for her serve, not afraid to take over the net and it’s just pretty easy out there when someone plays with so much confidence.”
Sharma can toast a first taste of Grand Slam tennis with a final against Czech Barbora Krejcikova and American Rajeev Ram on Saturday, the country’s national day.
The following day prior to the Men’s Singles Final, fellow WA compatriot, John Peers will team up with Finn, Henri Kontinen in a bid to win their second Australian Open men’s doubles title.
The No.12 seeds downed Argentina’s Leonardo Mayer and Portugal’s Joao Sousa 6-1 7-6(6) in the opening semifinal at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
It has been a remarkable turnaround in form for the duo, who after winning their first round match at the US Open went on to lose their last five straight matches of the 2018 season.
In that time, Peers’ ranking slumped from No.7 to No.23, and he entered the Australian Open at 28th.
“It’s always great to do well at your home Slam and put in a good performance, especially after the way we finished off last year,” he said.
“It was really nice to start the year off the right way and get some wins under the belt right away at the first Grand Slam of the year.
“(Late last year) we were actually very close nearly every match. (So we thought) let’s just stick with it an execute a couple more times and things will start rolling our way, and that’s what’s started to happen, which has been nice.
“Got some confidence and got things rolling.”
Peers and Kontinen will play Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, who beat Americans Ryan Harrison and Sam Querrey in the other semifinal.
“It’s gonna be a tough match; we know those guys,” Peers said of the French duo.
“I think they’re going for the career slam as well. And so we know it’s going to be a really tough match. They’re going to play big and can win matches on their own terms.
“It’s going to be about us seeing what we can do and focus on our level and bring what we can on that day and see if it’s good enough.
“It’s always great to play in front of the home crowd and get the support.”
Peers won his first Grand Slam doubles title at Australian Open 2017 alongside Kontinen. He has called WA home for the last few years, and has represented Mosman Park Tennis Club in the WA State League Competition.
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The Mixed Doubles Event will be played on Saturday 26 January, immediately following the Women’s Singles Final.
The Men’s Doubles will be played on Sunday 27 January, from 3pm, prior to the Men’s Doubles Final.
For more information, including, draws, schedules and live scoring, visit: ausopen.com
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