WILDCARDS NEED A GOOD NICKNAME
“WHO woulda thought, eh? Who woulda thought?’’
Judging by his on-court comments not Jason Kubler, as the latest pair of free-wheeling Australian wildcards, this duo combining for the first time, have made a wildly improbable run to the men’s doubles final at Melbourne.
Nor his partner Rinky Hijikata, who seemed just as surprised to be there, after the unassuming pair added the scalps of veteran eighth seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos to those of top seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski at the quarter-final stage.
“I’m just trying to soak it all in,’’ Hijikata said. “I just can’t really believe it, to be honest. Yeah, I wouldn’t have picked it. I’m just along for the ride.’’
“Clueless” about the art of doubles is how they also described themselves earlier in the week, with a recovery routine of lollies and a Pepsi for Kubler and a lazy dozen hours of sleep for Hijikata to continue through to Saturday night’s finale.
Their advance comes 12 months after Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis wrote a similar narrative, and finished it with the type of entertainers’ flourish that we thought only the Ks could.
Then along came Kubler and Hijikata, who, while still unsure about an appropriate nickname and without an obvious one given that the Kinkys is a little on the edgy side for this terribly nice pair, are rolling on in an infectiously different but no less engaging way.
“Just the thought that we could maybe win it is pretty surreal, to be honest,’’ said Kubler, 29, who is also guaranteed a career-best singles ranking of 78 after an exceptional summer.
A year ago, the then-third-seeded Spanish/argentinian combination of Granollers and Zeballos lost in the corresponding round to those other local upstarts, also in straight sets, and with much disbelief and joyous carryon afterwards.
This was slightly more restrained, but no less special.
*****
So much energy and infectious enthusiasm. Punchy groundstrokes, great volleys, infectious energy, boundless enthusiasm. Just fun.
“There’s heaps of energy and we both play better when there’s more energy, so we’ll just keep it goin’. I don’t know who the leader is, but we’re doing pretty well right now,’’ Kubler said.
Kubler was in the mixed doubles final here last year, losing with fellow Queenslander Jaimee Fourlis to Kristina Mladenovic and Ivan Dodig, who are veterans at this level.
Hijikata is playing only his second grand slam doubles main draw.
On Thursday, their aggregate doubles ranking of 440 compared with 30 for their far more experienced opponents. The numbers on the scoreboard were quite emphatic, too, though, given the 6-4, 6-2 result.
A proud doubles history continues for the hosts. With a twist.
“Obviously Australia is a very good doubles nation, and that‘s something that’s really ingrained into the history of our tennis, and I guess both of us kind of grew up learning about the great doubles players of the past,’’ says Hijikata.
“It‘s pretty special trying to carry that on forward. I guess, to be honest, we are both still singles players. We’re probably the bottom pair on that list, I’d say, if I’m being honest. Like I don’t think we are anywhere near as good as any of the Australian pairs that have come before us.
“It‘s just pretty surprising that we are here, to be honest. We will make the most of it and we will keep going and keep trying our best. Yeah, hopefully we can add to the legacy in some way.’’
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So. This nickname business. Totally irrelevant, of course, but also irrationally important, knowing the Aussies vernacular, and given that we’ve had the easy go-to labels from the Supermacs (Paul Mcnamee and Peter Mcnamara) to the Woodies (Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge) and recently the Ks.
“I don’t know if it’s our job to come up with one,’’ Kubler said on Wednesday. By Thursday, this was Kubler’s conclusion: “I honestly just think we don’t have great names for a nickname … or we have a bad imagination.’’
Kubler Kata has been another suggestion. Rubix-kubes.
Jason and Rinky. Grand slam men’s doubles finalists. Yep. That will do nicely.
Just the thought that we could maybe win it is pretty surreal Jason Kubler