Kiwi Michael Venus and his South African partner Raven Klaasen are through to their second ATP Masters 1000 final together.
They've won an epic battle with the former world number one ranked pair of Austrian Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic 7-6 (4) 4-6 10-7 in the semifinal of the RomeMasters.
It couldn't have been closer with their opponents winning one more point (75-74) but losing the match. Both pairs served superbly throughout with Venus and Klaasen broken just once in the match in the second set.
The Kiwi and South African sixth seeds only managed one break point chance which they couldn't convert but they came up big in the two tiebreakers.
For Venus, this is a dream result playing in his first clay court tournament after spending six weeks on the sidelines with an ankle injury.
Venus and Klaasen will meet either the top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo or the third seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah for the title at the Forro Italico.
Venus is projected to climb three ranking spots to 13 on the back of this win. He and Klaasen are still entered in next week's ATP tournament in Lyon which finishes on the eve of the French Open.
Venus and Klaasen are the top seeds. They are scheduled to face French wildcards Antoine Hoang and Gregoire Jacq in the first round.
Meanwhile, Kiwis Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell are both in the doubles draw at the ATP tournament in Geneva. Sitak and his American partner Austin Krajicek are second seeds and face Australian Matthew Ebden and Swede Robert Lindstedt in the first round.
Daniell is teaming up with fellow Kiwi Ben Mclachlan who plays for Japan for a week. They are seeded third and face Japan's Taro Daniel and Hungry's Marton Fucsovics in the first round.
