In January, Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic clinched their first Grand Slam title as a team at the Australian Open, defeating Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the championship match.
Just over four months later, the two teams met again in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros. Once again, Marach and Pavic emerged victorious.
The ATP Doubles Race To London leaders recovered from a set down to beat the Colombian fifth seeds 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 12 minutes.
Marach and Pavic, bidding for their fifth tour-level title this season, won 73 per cent of first-serve points and converted two of nine break point opportunities. The Austrian-Croatian tandem are currently riding an eight-match win streak, having lifted the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open title in May.
The second seeds will face 2016 champions Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez for a spot in their third Grand Slam final in the past 12 months. Marach and Pavic also reached the final at The Championships in 2017, losing 13-11 in the fifth set to Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo.
Lopez/Lopez saved one match point to defeat reigning Nitto ATP Finals titlists Henri Kontinen and John Peers on Monday.
Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya also advanced, defeating No. 13 seeds Rohan Bopanna and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6(4), 6-2. Mektic and Peya won 68 per cent of second-serve points and broke serve three times in a dominant second-set display to reach the last four after one hour and 32 minutes.
The Mutua Madrid Open champions will meet unseeded duo Maximo Gonzalez and Nicolas Jarry or Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut for a place in the final.
Did You Know?
Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic began the 2018 ATP World Tour season on a 17-match win streak. The duo won titles in Doha, Auckland and the Australian Open before losing in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament final (l. Herbert/Mahut).