In a surprising triumph on Wednesday at the Melbourne Hard Court Grand Slam, wild cards Rinky Hijikata and Jason Kubler defeated top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the semifinals. The Australian team continued on course to match their countrymen Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios' Melbourne Park victory in 2022.
The quarterfinal match's opening game saw the host team break serve, and they didn't look back after that as they cruised to a 66-minute victory on Kia Arena. In the match, Hijikata and Kubler didn't come up against a break point and won four of their ten break opportunities against a team who won seven ATP Tour titles in 2022.
Eighth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, who overcame Andreas Mies and John Peers 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2, will face Hijikata and Kubler in the semi-finals. The 14th-seeded duo that teamed up at the beginning of 2023 was defeated by the Spanish-Argentine combination, advancing them to the Melbourne semi-finals for the second consecutive year.