Tina Pisnik/Noe Khlif advanced to the mixed doubles semifinals in Southern California with a 11-9, 8-11, 13-11 victory over No. 2 seeds Jorja Johnson/JW Johnson in one of the day’s most entertaining encounters.

The No. 10 seeds overcame a 4-9 deficit in the deciding game, even saving a match point along the way, to steal the win and make the final four in their first tournament together.

“This is probably the team that is the hardest to attack,” Pisnik mentioned afterwards. “We tried to avoid the hands battles and firefights there, so we focused on anything soft and getting the ball on the ground. There were a few popups but at the end, I think I was keeping the ball on the ground and challenging Jorja to pull something incredible off the bounce. It worked out for us, which is super exciting.”

Despite this being just their first tournament together, Pisnik and Khlif have already demonstrated their resilience in big moments as a partnership. In their Round of 16 win over Lacy Schneemann/Andrei Daescu, they saved four match points before coming away with a 7-11, 11-8, 12-10 victory.

They will need to bring their best once again on Saturday when they take No. 3 seeds Anna Bright/Hayden Patriquin with a spot in the championship on the line.