Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova have won pretty much everything there is to win on the WTA doubles circuit. Every Grand Slam, and three of them twice! An Olympic Gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The Billie Jean King Cup title. The WTA Finals title.

But they still lack a BNP Paribas Open title. 

That could change on Saturday…

On Friday, the 2019 finalists took a step closer to that elusive goal as they eased past the Japanese tandem of Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the final in the California desert for the second time. 

How sweet would it be to finally raise the Baccarat crystal? 

“Definitely it would be really sweet,” Krejcikova said after the Czech duo’s victory, a dominant display of intelligent tactics and on-point execution from the world’s top pair. “But still there is a lot of work to do. Tomorrow we are going to have another tough match – we have to bring our best tennis.” 

They may have to do some extreme scouting as well. 

Their opponents in Saturday’s final, Beatriz Haddad Maia and Laura Siegemund, are playing together for the first time this week at Indian Wells. They advanced with ease in Friday’s second doubles semifinal, 6-1, 6-2 over Miyu Kato of Japan and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia. 

Haddad Maia, the No.13 ranked singles player in the world, is happy to be under the wing of Siegemund on the doubles court. The German is a 2020 US Open champion (with Vera Zvonareva) and also won a mixed doubles title at the US Open in 2016 (with Mate Pavic). 

“It’s more special because I’m learning with Laura,” Haddad Maia told the crowd after the victory. “She’s very experienced and it’s very nice to share how she thinks and to learn different things with her.” 

Siegemund is looking forward to the final against the seven-time women’s doubles Grand Slam champions, but she knows the task is as tough as it gets. 

“Of course, I think we’re the underdogs,” she said. “Definitely dangerous underdogs but I know these girls have played so often together and have proven that they are world-class – we don’t have much to lose.”