There’s just something about Cincinnati that brings out the best in Jackie Kawamoto and Jade Kawamoto.

After making it to Championship Sunday together at the 2023 Cincinnati Open, the Kawamoto sisters are right back in a final in Ohio after a thrilling 7-11, 11-6, 11-9 victory over top seeds Anna Leigh Waters/Anna Bright.

Waters/Bright appeared to be in full control when they got up 9-4 in the deciding game, but the Kawamotos went on to score the final seven points of the contest to pull off the upset and hand Waters/Bright their second loss in as many tournaments after winning their first 45 matches together.

“I’m just so grateful for all our friends and family that came out. This crowd is so great. They really helped us the whole time,” Jackie said afterwards. “There’s something very special about this tournament.”

As a lefty-righty partnership, one of the keys for the No. 6 seeds was effectively covering the middle with their forehands to counter the speedups from Waters/Bright, a task they excelled at on Saturday.

“We knew covering the middle was going to be a big thing for us, so we focused on that in the warmup and made sure we knew the patterns and who was going to cover the middle when,” Jade explained.

With this win, the Kawamotos are into their first final since the 2024 Milwaukee Open, where they fell to Anna Bright/Rachel Rohrabacer in a five-game thriller.

They will face No. 4 seeds Jorja Johnson/Tyra Black—who beat Parris Todd/Catherine Parenteau in the first semifinal—on Sunday.