Doubles star Neal Skupski claims 300th win on the ATP Tour
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British doubles star Neal Skupski has hit a new career milestone as the former world No.1 recorded his 300th win on the ATP Tour.
Skupski claimed win No.300 at the Barcelona Open last week as he and Joe Salisbury secured a semi-final victory over Constantin Frantzen and Alexander Erler to book their spot in the final, where they narrowly lost out on the title to fellow Brit Luke Johnson and Dutchman Sander Arends.
Since making his ATP tour debut back in 2013, Skupski has gone on to become one of the most successful British doubles players in recent time - collecting 17 titles including three Masters 1000 crowns in Paris, Canada and Madrid, as well as the Wimbledon men’s doubles title in 2023.
As far as tour debuts come, it was almost a flawless start for Skupski on the ATP Tour. Competing alongside his brother - now coach - Ken Skupski at the ATP 250 event in Moscow, the pair enjoyed a run to the final where they narrowly missed out on the title to Mikhail Elgin and Denis Istomin in a 6-2, 1-6, 14-12 defeat.
The Liverpool-born star spent the following years finding his feet on the world’s biggest stage before eventually claiming his maiden title in Montpellier in 2018. Later that year, he also lifted the trophy in Vienna alongside Salisbury.
However, it wasn’t until 2022 where Skupski well and truly left his mark on the ATP doubles tour. Teaming up with Dutchman Wesley Koolhof for the season, the pair swept up seven tour titles to elevate themselves to the top of the world rankings, with Skupski being honoured as joint world No.1 for the first time on 22 November 2022.
Skupski has also clocked some outstanding results on the world's biggest stages. The 33-year-old has reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open (2022, 2023) and Roland Garros (2020, 2022, 2023) as well as being a runner-up at the US Open in 2022 after missing out to three-time champions Salisbury and Rajeev Ram.
It wasn’t until Wimbledon in 2023 that he finally had his breakthrough moment on the Grand Slam stage. After setting up a final clash against Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers, Skupski and Koolhof went on to secure a 6-4, 6-4 victory - marking Skupski's maiden major men's doubles title. In doing so, he became the first British man to win both the men’s doubles and mixed doubles titles in SW19 since 1926.
Skupski’s successes also extend onto the international stage where he has been a stalwart in the Lexus GB Davis Cup team in recent years - earning 10 wins for his country in six years.
