Before Monday, Kiwi Paige Hourigan and American Taylor Townsend had never played together at a professional tournament.
But tomorrow, the scratch combination will contest the ASB Classic doubles final, after an upset 6-3, 6-4 win over second seeds Johanna Larsson and Kirsten Flipkensin today's semifinal.
From a local perspective, Hourigan and Townsend have been one of the feel-good stories of the tournament. They have improved with each match, have a lot of fun on court and are engaging off it.
They have known each other a few years, as Hourigan studied at Georgia Tech and Townsend lives in Atlanta. The 21-year-old Hourigan floated the idea early last month and 22-year-old Townsend had little hesitation.
"I base it on the person," said Townsend of picking a doubles partner. "If I will get along with that person, our chemistry ... you have to take those kind of things into account. She asked me, 'hey, do you want to play at ASB?' I was like, 'sure'. It was a no-brainer because I knew her and liked the kind of person she was."
Their progress this week is a huge boost for Hourigan, who will embark on a professional career this year.
Hourigan is the first Kiwi in the final of a WTA doubles event since August 2014, when Marina Erakovic was beaten in the decider in New Haven. Erakovic also lost the Classic final in 2011, while Leanne Baker was a doubles runner-up in 2005.
"I don't even think I have processed it yet," said Hourigan. "It's pretty cool — so happy I can do it with Taylor. She's an easy person to get along with, she's really positive. She tells me to calm down and just take one point at a time. We've known each other a long time."
They will be underdogs again tomorrow against former Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard and American Sofia Kenin but an upset is possible on the evidence of this week.
"We have made it this far, now we have one more to go," said Townsend. "We're just going to keep our heads down and not worry about who's on the other side of the net. We're just playing tennis."
