Australian duo Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler will take to the court at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night for the doubles final against Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski.
The local wildcard pairing, who had never played together prior to the tournament, will be desperately hoping to emulate the achievement of fellow Aussie stars, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis, who triumphed at last year’s Open.
Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler advance to the Australian Open doubles final
The duo defeated eighth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-4 6-2 to advance to the decider against the Polish and French pairing.
MORE: Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler shock seeds to reach Australian Open doubles final
It’s a remarkable effort from the local favourites with Hijikata ranked 267th in doubles, while Kubler is 163rd.
Yet their physicality and power out on the court has caught the eye, eliminating No.1 seeds Wesley Koolholf and Neal Skupski in straight sets to reach the semi-final. Before they then raised the roof with another impressive showing against Granollers and Zeballos.
Their past two confident wins have been a far cry from their shaky beginnings in Melbourne Park when they battled through rounds two and three with three-set wins.
The Australians face a tricky task to claim the crown though with their opponents also impressing during their run to the final.
The experienced duo of Nys and Zielinski, who claimed a doubles title in Metz last year and have played together extensively, dispatched second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the second round of the Open and have made it to the final in great shape.
But if the Aussies can claim the trophy, they will become just the second wildcard duo in the Open era to lift the title after Kyrgios and Kokkinakis did so in 2022.
What time are Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler playing in the Australian Open doubles final?
Times are approximate and subject to weather conditions and the completion of the women’s singles final match between Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka.
Those two will commence the night session on Rod Laver Arena from 7.30pm AEDT with the doubles final to follow shortly afterwards.
UK
USA
Canada
Australia
Date
Saturday, January 28
Saturday, January 28
Saturday, January 28
Saturday, January 28
Time
From 8:30am BST
From 3:30am ET
From 3:30am ET
From 7:30pm AEDT
How to watch Rinky Hikikata and Jason Kubler against Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski
UK
USA
Canada
Australia
TV channel
Eurosport 1 or 2
ESPN/ESPN2
TSN1/TSN5
Channel 9
Streaming
eurosport.uk
ESPN+ and fuboTV
TSN+
Australia: The Nine Network is the free-to-air broadcaster of the Australian Open 2023.
The Australian Open can also be watched on SmartTV’s 9Now and Stan Sport as well as 9Gem.
Fans can also stream the Australian Open through 9Now and Stan Sport.
UK: Coverage of the Australian Open 2023 will be broadcast in the UK live and exclusively on Eurosport.
Eurosport 1 and 2 will provide daily coverage of the action in Melbourne.
UK fans can also stream the Australian Open through the discovery+ app, the Eurosport app, or through eurosport.co.uk
USA: Tennis fans based in the United States will be able to watch this year’s Australian Open via ESPN. Matches will be broadcast on both ESPN and ESPN2.
ESPN+ and fuboTV will both offer live streaming during the 2023 Australian Open. FuboTV offers a free trial.
Canada: The 2023 Australian Open will be broadcast in Canada by TSN.
Matches will be shown on either TSN1 or TSN5.
Canadian fans are able to live stream the action from Melbourne Park on TSN+.
The full TSN+ broadcast schedule can be accessed here.
