Top two to meet in doubles final

The men's doubles final at this year's Australian Open will be a heavyweight affair after the world's top two teams advanced to the title decider in ridiculously easy fashion on Thursday.

American No.1 seeds Bob and Mike Bryan needed just 59 minutes to dispose of unseeded pair Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Michael Kohlmann of Germany 6-1 6-4 while No.2 seeds Daniel Nestor of Canada and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic were almost as dominant in beating another unseeded combination of Croatia's Ivo Karlovic and Serbia's Dusan Vemic 6-4 6-4.

The Bryan brothers - the American twins who turn 32 in April and who have consistently been near the top of the world rankings in doubles since 2003 - will be aiming for their fourth Australian Open title in the past five years having already triumphed at Melbourne Park in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

Overall the Bryans have claimed seven Grand Slam doubles titles having already won one Wimbledon (2006), one French Open (2003) and two US Opens in 2005 and 2008.

But Nestor and Zimonjic are also experienced campaigners when it comes to the business end of Grand Slam doubles tournaments.

The pair has won the past two Wimbledon doubles titles - defeating the Bryan brothers in the decider last year in their only previous meeting in a Grand Slam doubles final - while Nestor has previously won the Australian Open with former partner Mark Knowles in 2002.

Zimonjic has also tasted previous success at Melbourne Park but in mixed doubles in claiming the 2004 and 2008 titles.

However while the Nestor/Zimonjic combination has enjoyed the easier passage to the final after dropping just one set in five matches compared to two for the Bryan brothers, the American twins looked simply awesome in their semi-final rout of Nieminen and Kohlmann.

After winning the first set in just 17 minutes, they broke Kohlmann's serve again in the third game of the second set following a great lob on break point by Mike Bryan and after Nieminen saved six match points on his serve in the ninth game, Bob Bryan had little trouble serving out the match in the next game as the pair clinched victory on their eighth match point.

The men's doubles final will be played on Saturday night following the women's singles final.