It will be No. 1 vs. No. 2 on Sunday, when top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers battle second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo for the Shanghai Rolex Masters title.
The four leading teams in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London were in action on semi-final Saturday at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center. Kubot and Melo stormed back to defeat Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 4-6, 6-3, 10/7 in one hour and 23 minutes, continuing their hot streak at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level.
Advancing to their eighth team final this year, the second seeds will contest their fourth at the Masters 1000 stage. They hoisted the trophy in both Miami and Madrid.
"We played a really good match," said Melo. "They won the US Open this year and have been playing really well. All the Top 4 teams reached the semi-finals, so we needed to put our best game together. Fortunately, we did that from the second set and we won. Tomorrow will be decided by one or two points and we feel we're on the same level as [Kontinen and Peers]."
"It's an amazing feeling," added Kubot. "Our level has been very high from the first round and we're happy to be in the final in Shanghai. We'll have another chance to win a title, but it's still a long way away. We want to enjoy this."
Watch SF Highlights: Kubot/Melo | Kontinen/Peers
Meanwhile, Kontinen and Peers kicked off proceedings with a 7-6(3), 3-6, 10/4 victory over Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, saving three of four breaks points.
Runners-up in 2016 (l. to Isner/Sock), the Finnish-Aussie duo are back in the Shanghai final and will look to improve to 4-0 in title matches this year. Kontinen and Peers extended their win streak to six straight with Saturday's win, having lifted the trophy at the China Open in Beijing last week.
It will be the third final at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level for the top seeds. Their lone crown came at the Rolex Paris Masters last year.
Both teams are poised to renew what has been an intense rivalry in 2017. Kontinen and Peers lead the FedEx ATP Head2Head 2-1, having prevailed in the Rome quarter-finals and Washington final. Kubot and Melo were victorious in the Wimbledon semis.
