Great Britain’s Neal Skupski claimed his first Grand Slam men’s doubles title with a memorable final victory at Wimbledon with Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.
Skupski and Koolhof, the first seeds, defeated Spanish-Argentine pair Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-4 6-4 in the final on Centre Court on Saturday.
Liverpudlian doubles specialist Skupski, 33, has tasted success in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon in the last two years but this represents his first major victory in the men’s, after missing out in last year’s US Open final.
Neal Skupski (R) claimed his first Grand Slam men’s doubles title with victory at Wimbledon with Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof (L)— (Getty Images)
Skupski said on court: “I don’t know what to say. Growing up watching this amazing championship, going out there as a small boy, this feeling at the moment doesn’t get better.
“Me and Wesley came together 18 months ago and this year one of our goals was to win a grand slam and now we have done it, it feels very special.”
Skupski is the first British man to win the men’s doubles title at Wimbledon since Jonathan Marray, alongside Frederik Nielsen, in 2012.
The Dutch-British pair looked assured from the off. At 3-3 in the first set they made their move, breaking Granollers’ serve when the Spaniard kindly sent down a double fault on break point.
Skupski consolidated the break with an impressive service game and, after missing a set point on Zeballos’ serve in the next game, it was left to Koolhof to serve it out nicely and claim the set 6-4.
Skupski dropped to the floor after victory was sealed— (Getty Images)
They continued to dominate and crucially took Zeballos’ serve to lead 3-2 after a particularly impressive return game.
Skupski immediately held to go 4-2 up before they missed two break points to move within a game of the title as Granollers came good.
But that left the Briton to finish the job and he did not disappoint the home crowd, falling to the floor in celebration after their opponents went long on the first championship point.
Additional reporting by PA
