Christian Alshon/Andrei Daescu spoiled the run of first-time partners Ben Johns/Hayden Patriquin with an 11-6, 10-12, 11-5 victory in the day’s first semifinal.

The No. 4 seeds looked like they would close out the contest in straight games when they got a 10-7 lead in the second game, but Johns/Patriquin saved two match points and used a five-point run to force a third.

Not deterred by the comeback, Alshon/Daescu got back to business and comfortably took the third game to make their first final as a partnership.

For Alshon, the key to a strong Game 3 was trusting the game plan that put them in a position to win earlier in the match.

“Based on the score in the second, we knew that we could win the third,” he said. “We knew that we had a winning strategy—we just had to execute it.”

Much of that winning strategy revolved around Alshon expertly crashing off of third shots and putting Johns/Patriquin under pressure at the kitchen line throughout the high-octane encounter.

“We just had to hit the reset button and play one really good game to finish it, and we did,” Daescu noted. “I’m just super proud to be competing next to Christian. He’s got a lot of heart, a lot of skill, and I’m looking forward to being in one of the three finals he’s gonna play tomorrow.”

On that note, Alshon will go for his first career Triple Crown on Sunday after also making the final in men’s singles and mixed doubles.

He spoke about what it will take to earn three golds in Tucson.

“It’s starting to set in right now because I spent all day actively trying not to think about it. I know it’s gonna require a lot of physical endurance and stamina—that’s probably the hardest part,” he mentioned. “I don’t know how Ben has done it for so many years, but it really takes a toll on your body to compete in every single match of a tournament.”

No. 2 seeds JW Johnson/Gabe Tardio await in the final.