China's Zhang Shuai, Belgium's Mertens reach women's doubles final at Australian Open

China's Zhang Shuai and Belgium's Elise Mertens beat Russia's Vera Zvonareva and Japan's Ena Shibahara 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday, advancing to the women's doubles final at the Australian Open.

In her fifth Grand Slam women's doubles title match, Zhang will once again join forces with Mertens to take on Russia's Anna Danilina and Serbia's Aleksandra Krunic on Saturday.

Zhang and Mertens struck early in the first set by clinching four straight games to put a 1-1 start firmly in the rearview mirror, with the duo serving up four love games from the first six. Although their opponents pulled two games back, the Chinese and Belgian pair converted four consecutive points in the ninth to put away the set.

The veteran pair were even more dominant in the second set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead after breaking the Russian and Japanese combination three times. Zvonareva and Shibahara grabbed the next two games, but that only denied victory to Zhang and Mertens for so long before they converted their third match point, completing the sweep.

Saturday's final will mark Zhang's first appearance in the Australian Open title match in seven years, as well as her first trip to a major final with Mertens since Wimbledon in 2022. The 37-year-old, who won the Australian Open in 2019 and U.S. Open in 2021, is now one win away from a third Grand Slam doubles title.