Neal Skupski Wins US Open Men's Doubles Title
Neal Skupski finally owned the Arthur Ashe stage that had haunted him.
Twelve months after blowing three championship points in a crushing US Open final defeat, the Briton returned to the same arena with a new partner, a new script and, this time, a ruthless finish. Alongside American Christian Harrison, Skupski captured the men’s doubles title with a 6-4 7-6 (8-6) win over Germany’s Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz, completing a flawless run in New York without dropping a set.
It is the pair’s second Grand Slam crown of the season after their Australian Open triumph in January – astonishingly, their first major together.
From heartbreak to hard edge
Skupski has known only pain in previous US Open finals. In 2022, he and Wesley Koolhof were denied the title. In 2023, he and Joe Salisbury stood on the brink, three championship points up, only to see the trophy ripped away. Those scars do not fade quickly.
Salisbury later stepped away from the sport because of anxiety, a decision that reshaped both careers and opened the door to this new partnership with Harrison. For Skupski, it meant starting again. For Harrison, it meant a chance to step into the glare of Arthur Ashe as the home hope.
On this night, the arena adopted them both. The crowd roared for Harrison, the American underdog turned Grand Slam champion-in-waiting, and by extension for Skupski, the man trying to rewrite his New York story.
“The speech gets a little bit easier once you've won,” Skupski admitted on court, still processing what he had just done. He did not need to say much more. The contrast with last year said everything.
One break, all business
The match itself hinged on small margins and one clean strike.
At 3-3 in the opening set, Harrison saw his chance. A short ball, a gap down the line, and he ripped a backhand winner that cut through Puetz and Krawietz to secure the first and only break of the contest. From there, the fifth seeds locked in. First set, 6-4, banked with a minimum of fuss.
Puetz and Krawietz, seasoned campaigners and the sixth seeds, refused to fold. They tightened their patterns, protected their serves and dragged the second set into a tie-break, the kind of high-wire moment where Skupski’s memories from 12 months ago might easily have resurfaced.
They almost did – but only for a point.
Tie-break tension and a decisive smash
The Germans struck first in the breaker, helped by a cruel twist of fate. A return from their side clipped the net cord and died, wrong-footing Harrison and gifting them a set point. Arthur Ashe groaned. This was the kind of moment that had broken Skupski before.
Not this time.
Skupski and Harrison saved it, steadied themselves and then turned the screw. As the noise rose inside the stadium, they forced their own championship point. The rally built, the ball floated where Skupski wanted it, and he finished the job the most emphatic way possible – a smash at the net that finally buried his US Open ghosts.
He dropped to his knees, the release immediate and raw, before turning to embrace Harrison. No drama left, no what-ifs. Just a title.
A growing legacy
This victory at Flushing Meadows is Skupski’s third men’s doubles Grand Slam crown, adding to his Wimbledon triumph in 2023 with Koolhof and this year’s Australian Open with Harrison. His résumé runs deeper still: two mixed doubles majors at Wimbledon in 2021 and 2022 alongside American Desirae Krawczyk.
For Harrison, this is a breakthrough that could reshape his career. For Skupski, it is something else entirely – proof that the darkest defeats can be reworked into fuel.
A year ago, he walked off Arthur Ashe wondering if he would ever close out a US Open final. Now he leaves as champion, with a new partner, a perfect fortnight, and the sense that this partnership has only just started writing its story.
