The barnstorming run of China's Zhang Zhizhen and Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic at the Australian Open ended on Thursday as they fell short in a thrilling men's doubles semifinal to second seeds Matthew Ebden of Australia and Rohan Bopanna of India.
The unseeded Chinese-Czech pairing had unexpectedly made a strong tilt at the title but were halted by doubles specialists Ebden and Bopanna 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7).
The Australian-Indian pairing were finalists at last year's U.S. Open but have yet to win a Grand Slam title together. They will face the Italian duo of Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in the final.
Zhang, who is ranked 625th in doubles, had enjoyed a spectacular run with Machac, highlighted by their third-round upset over doubles specialists and third seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.
Thursday's loss ended the Australian Open campaign of Zhang, China's highest-ranked men's singles player, as he had fallen in the second round to 21st seed Ugo Humbert in four sets.
Zhang Zhizhen and Tomas Machac's historic doubles run at 2024 Australian Open
First round: Zhang/Machac won 6-4, 7-5 vs Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen of Belgium
Second round: Zhang/Machac won 7-6 (2), 6-3 vs Marton Fucsovics and Fabian Marozsan of Hungary
Third round: Zhang/Machac won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 vs Rajeev Ram of the U.S. and Joe Salisbury of UK
Quarterfinal: Zhang/Machac won 6-3, 6-1 vs Ariel Behar of Uruguay and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic
Semifinal: Zhang/Machac lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7) vs Matthew Ebden of Australia and Rohan Bopanna of India
Zhang Zhizhen's singles run at 2024 Australian Open
First round: Zhang Zhizhen won 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) vs Federico Coria of Argentina
Second round: Zhang Zhizhen lost 2-6, 7-5, 1-6, 6-7 (3) vs Ugo Humbert of France
(With input from Xinhua)