Neal Skupski continued Britain’s impressive recent record in men’s doubles by winning the Australian Open title in tandem with American Christian Harrison. The newly-formed pair, playing in just their second tournament together, defeated the Australian wildcard duo Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans 7-6 (4), 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena.
It is the third time in the past five grand slam tournaments that there has been at least one British winner, with Henry Patten lifting this trophy last year alongside Finn Harri Heliovaara before the duo of Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool triumphed at Wimbledon.
Skupski and his former partner Joe Salisbury, meanwhile, reached the final of both the French Open and US Open, coming up just short both times. The latter revealed at the end of the season that he was taking a break from the sport because of anxiety, and mutual friends brought Skupski and Harrison together.
They could not have imagined how quickly slam success would arrive, and they were fully deserving winners of the title, with a Harrison ace clinching victory on their third match point.
It is Skupski’s second grand slam men’s doubles title after he won the Wimbledon crown in 2023 with the Dutchman Wesley Koolhof, while he also has two mixed doubles titles at the All England Club, but this represents his first major success away from home soil.
“It’s obviously nice to get another grand slam,” said Skupski. “I was very close last year at the US Open and lost narrowly in the French. Christian has given me a new lease of life this year. We’re very happy. We’re so excited for the year ahead. Still things that we can work on, but this is definitely an amazing start.”
Earlier, Elise Mertens marked her return to the No 1 ranking in women’s doubles by combining with China’s Zhang Shuai to win the title. Back together after four years apart as a team, Mertens and Zhang trailed 3-0 and 4-1 in the first set but rallied to beat Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic 7-6 (4), 6-4. Mertens and Zhang led the final set 5-0 before withstanding a comeback attempt when Danilina and Krunic won four straight games.
The victory was Mertens’s sixth grand slam doubles title, including 2021 and 2024 at Melbourne Park. Zhang now has three, including the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 US Open. It was their first grand slam trophy as a team, having lost the 2022 Wimbledon final in their last appearance together.
“This is like cherry on the cake,” Mertens said. “We paired up as a team very last-minute … this was our first tournament back together. In the second round we saved three match points, so that kind of took us to another level. An unbelievable two weeks.”
