Koolhof/Skupski Capture Maiden Masters 1000 Title In Madrid

Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski captured their first ATP Masters 1000 title together Sunday at the Mutua Madrid Open, edging fifth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-5.

In an entertaining final, the seventh seeds returned with great depth and demonstrated great coverage around the net to triumph after two hours and three minutes, improving their 2022 match record to 30-7.

The Dutch-British pair has now earned a tour-leading four ATP Tour titles in their first year together, after also clinching trophies at the Melbourne Summer Set, Adelaide International 2 and the Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

“We came into this tournament with a lot of confidence. We’ve done well from January onwards,” Skupski said. “We keep on learning from tournament to tournament, but it’s been a great week here.

“The fans are unbelievable. They seem to appreciate doubles. It’s just nice to come through. It’s our first Masters [1000] title together and individually, so it’s nice to get that over the line so we can move forward and hopefully win a few more.”

With their victory in Madrid, Koolhof and Skuspki have strengthened their position as the top team in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings. They lead all the teams on the ATP Tour this season in wins (30), finals (7) and titles (4).

Koolhof, who has now won 11 tour-level crowns individually and Skupski, who has captured 10 trophies, fell to Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner in the Miami Open presented by Itau final last month. However, they played aggressively all week in Madrid to successfully crack the Masters 1000 code. What’s the next goal?

“To win Rome I think, next week! We’ve been playing great tennis, making a lot of finals so far. This one was still missing, a title in a Masters [1000],” Koolhof said. “We’ll just go week by week, so we’re going to enjoy this one and then start preparing for Rome from tomorrow on.”

Cabal and Farah were aiming to win their third Masters 1000 title together and first since Rome in 2019. The Colombians dropped just one set en route to their second championship match of the season, after also enjoying a run to the final in Monte Carlo.