Top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut saved three match points on Sunday to move into the doubles quarter-finals at the Australian Open, while local wild card pairings Marc Polmans/Andrew Whittington and Alex Bolt/Bradley Mousley delighted the home crowd by also reaching the last eight.
Herbert/Mahut were perilously close to defeat with No. 16 seeds Dominic Inglot/Florin Mergea holding three match points on their serve at 5-4 in the second set, but the French pair fought them off to grab the break and took control of the match to prevail 2-6, 7-5, 6-2. The top seeds are looking for their first title in Melbourne, having previously finished runner-up here in 2015 (l. Bolelli/Fognini).
Next up for them are Polmans/Whittington, who continued their dream run by defeating No. 11 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau 7-6(5), 7-6(5). Polmans is making his Grand Slam main draw debut at this tournament, while Whittington reached the doubles quarter-finals here in 2014 (w/Bolt).
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Bolt/Mousley survived an epic 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 battle against Americans Sam Querrey/Donald Young. Little separated the two teams, but the Aussies grabbed the essential break in the final game of the match to wrap up the win. Mousley is also making his Grand Slam main draw debut this fortnight.
Standing between them and a spot in the final four is Pablo Carreno Busta/Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who advanced 7-6(6), 6-4 in an all-Spanish battle against fifth seeds Feliciano Lopez/Marc Lopez. Carreno Busta/Garcia Lopez saved a set point at 5/6 in the opening set tie-break. This is the best doubles result for both players in Melbourne, but they’ll look to at least match their runner-up showing at the 2016 US Open (l. Murray/Soares).