British pair Neal Skupski and Christian Harrison have advanced to the US Open men’s doubles final, marking the 36-year-old’s third appearance in the championship match at Flushing Meadows. Skupski and Harrison defeated fellow Brit Henry Patten and Finland’s Henri Heliovaara with a comfortable 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 victory in their semi-final clash.
Skupski previously served as runner-up alongside Wesley Koolhof in 2022 and Joe Salisbury last year. In the other semi-final, defending champions Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury fell to German duo Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz 6-3, 6-4 after reuniting earlier this year.
In wheelchair doubles, Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid are on the brink of securing a sixth crown after edging past Gustavo Fernandez and Tokito Oda 4-6, 6-3, 10-7. They will face Spain’s Martin De la Puente and the Netherlands’ Ruben Spaargaren in the title match. Hewett also reached the singles semi-finals by defeating American Casey Ratzlaff 6-2, 6-0.
Meanwhile, Great Britain captain Leon Smith remains hopeful that Jack Draper will recover from his bone bruise in time for the Davis Cup finals in November. Draper, formerly world No 4, missed this year’s US Open, forcing Smith to include rookie Toby Samuel in the squad for the upcoming qualifier against Ecuador.
Samuel, 23, earned his first call-up following a strong season on the Challenger tour. “Toby’s rate of progress has been excellent,” Smith said. “He’s got big firepower and moves well, but I think being around Cam, Arthur, and the rest of the team will do him a lot of good.”
Elsewhere, Wimbledon has announced strict measures to prevent the influencer influx seen at the US Open. The All England Club plans to ban accreditation for content creators and confiscate disruptive items like ring lights. This follows complaints from players such as Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka regarding spectator behavior and lighting issues at Flushing Meadows.
On the individual tour, Novak Djokovic is set to return to Beijing for the China Open, his first appearance there in 11 years. Despite a shocking first-round exit at the US Open to Mariano Navone—the earliest Grand Slam departure of his career—the 39-year-old has never lost a match in Beijing, having won the title six times. Stefanos Tsitsipas also made headlines by revealing he was aware of Nick Kyrgios’ doping issue prior to the official announcement.
I’m still confused about Tsitsipas knowing about Kyrgios’ doping issue beforehand. Shouldn’t this be reported to authorities immediately?
Djokovic returning to Beijing is huge news. Can anyone actually stop him there after that rough US Open exit?
Wimbledon banning ring lights? About time. The US Open was getting unbearable with all those influencers blocking the courts.
Skupski is absolutely flying at the moment. That composure under pressure is why he’s so dangerous in doubles.