High-octane Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis storm into Australian Open final

If the roof had been on Rod Laver Arena it would have blown off as a zealous home crowd roared Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis into an unlikely Australian Open doubles final.

Laver himself was in the house on Thursday afternoon to watch the unseeded pair, who have both shocked and awed their competition and the public, storm past Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 7-6(7-4), 6-4.

They will face Matt Ebden and Max Purcell in Saturday’s final – the first all-Australian men’s doubles decider since 1980 – after Ebden and Purcell beat second seeds Rajeev Ram (America) and Joe Salisbury (Britain) 6-3, 7-6(11-9).

“I have played a lot of singles matches around the globe with amazing atmospheres,” Kyrgios said afterwards. “But this week with Thanasi playing in front of you, nothing beats this. This is insane.”

The spectators came in higher numbers than their previous matches at Kia Arena after Tennis Australia let ground pass holders through the gates of centre court. But those in attendance witnessed less showboating and skulduggery than they might have expected.

Before there was a sense Kyrgios and Kokkinakis were playing mainly to entertain, now they were also playing to win.

And win they did, despite a tight first set that stayed on serve all the way to a tie-break. Their opponents, both about decade the Australians’ seniors, moved in tandem with a smoothness expected of the third seeds and last year’s Wimbledon runners-up, and Granollers targeted Kyrgios at the net.

The Australians continued unabated, serving aces (13 all up) and sending down 32 winners to 21.

They included a Kokkinakis backhand winner down the line and a big Kyrgios second serve of 198km/h to help them to 5-5. It was until 6-5