Ben Mclachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama became the first all-Japanese team to reach the Tokyo final in 12 years on Saturday at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017.
The wild card team defeated Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Chile’s Julio Peralta 7-5, 6-4 in the semi-finals, much to the delight of hundreds of spectators watching in the Ariake Colosseum.
The pair will now face second seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares on Sunday, where they hope to follow in the footsteps of Japan’s Satoshi Iwabuchi and Takao Suzuki who captured the 2005 trophy with victory over Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Australia’s Todd Perry.
Meanwhile, at the China Open in Beijing, top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers set a final meeting against Americans John Isner and Jack Sock. The No. 1 team defeated Paolo Lorenzi and Mischa Zverev 7-6(6), 3-6, 10/7 on Saturday. They will look to extend their perfect record in doubles finals this year to 3-0, having previously lifted trophies at the Australian Open and Citi Open in Washington.