Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev booked their place in the doubles final at the Miami Open presented by Itau, taking only 44 minutes to dismiss Americans Steve Johnson and Sam Querrey, 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday. Johnson and Querrey had marched into the semi-finals at the season’s second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament without dropping a set.
The Russians competed at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals last November, alongside the top eight 21-and-under singles players, and have continued to grow in confidence. In singles, the 20-year-old Rublev opened his season with a runner-up finish in Doha (d. Monfils), while the 21-year-old Khachanov claimed the Marseille title last month (d. Pouille).
In Miami, they teamed up to oust sixth seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares and No. 3 seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic. Khachanov and Rublev are playing in their fourth tour-level event together with their best result prior to this week a Round of 16 finish at the US Open.
In the final, they will face four-time Miami champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, who beat Australian Open semi-finalists Ben McLachlan and Jan-Lennard Struff 7-5, 6-4 in 73 minutes. The Bryans made it back-to-back Masters 1000 finals, after reaching the BNP Paribas Open final earlier this month (l. to Isner/Sock).
The American twins will be going for their 37th Masters 1000 title as a team. They have won 114 tour-level titles as a team but haven't hoisted a trophy since 2017 Atlanta.
