Koolhof/Skupski Win Sixth Title Of Team Debut Season In Montreal

The No. 1 team in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Rankings padded its lead on Sunday in the Montreal final. Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski won their sixth title since joining forces this year by edging Daniel Evans and John Peers 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 to claim their second ATP Masters 1000 crown of the season.

The Dutch-British duo dominated the opening set but dropped the second despite clawing back an early break, setting up a dramatic Match Tie-break. They raced out to a 7/2 lead in the tie-break, with Skupski flicking a brilliant lob on the stretch to extend their advantage, then held their nerve to close out the win from 8/6. It was their third Match Tie-break win of the week.

“We played four very close matches [this week],” Koolhof said before the trophy ceremony. “It’s never easy. These days there’s no such thing as easy matches anymore. Very happy with the way we played, our second Masters 1000 title of the year. Things are going great so let’s keep this run going.”

Skupski sealed the victory for the third seeds with a backhand return winner down the line as the pair improved to 6-2 in tour-level finals this season by notching its 45th match win. The red-hot duo has also claimed titles this year in Melbourne, Adelaide-2, Doha, Madrid and ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

“I think we’re still learning,” Skupski said of their blossoming partnership. “We’ve been together seven or eight months now, but it’s really going well. I love being on the court with Wes, it’s been a good partnership so far. Hopefully we can just keep working, progressing. It seems like we’re going to be able to go to Turin eventually and we’re looking forward to it.”

The duo, both individually in the Top 5 of the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, entered Montreal on a three-match losing streak but got back to winning ways at just the right time to win the title at the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers. They dominated on first serve in the final, winning 79 per cent of points behind their first delivery.

“It sounds very cocky but we didn’t experience losing three in a row this year so far,” Koolhof said. “We were doing great, playing great. We already had five titles before that three-match losing streak. If you win every match, it’s tough. Mektic/Pavic did it last year. But sometimes to lose is also good to learn again. I think we found the right way again and let’s keep this up towards the end of the year.”