Jamie Beats Andy In Murray Doubles Clash

The older sibling prevailed once again in an all-Murray doubles showdown. Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski reached the doubles semi-finals on Friday at the Western & Southern Open by defeating Feliciano Lopez and Andy Murray 6-7(5), 7-5, 10-4.

Jamie has won both times he’s faced his younger brother in ATP Tour doubles action. He and John Peers defeated Andy and Leander Paes in the 2015 Coupe Rogers.

“We’re happy to win today. It’s always a difficult situation, probably more so for him than me,” said Jamie. “I think we both did a good job and it was a pretty good level. It was packed for most of the match, so it was good fun.”

Murray/Skupski served to stay in the match at 4-5 in the second set, then broke in the next game and cruised the rest of the way to advance in one hour and 46 minutes. This is the first ATP Tour doubles semi-final the British pair have reached as a team since joining forces this June in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Murray/Skupski will now face Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek, who upset second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 3-6, 6-4, 10-5. Dodig/Polasek are 10-3 since joining forces in June, advancing to the semi-finals at Wimbledon and finishing runner-up in Antalya (l. to Erlich/Sitak).

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Top seeds and Wimbledon champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah needed only 67 minutes to dispatch seventh seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers 6-4, 6-2. Cabal/Farah’s second-round win on Thursday made them the first team to qualify for this year’s Nitto ATP Finals, held at the O2 in London from 10-17 November.

Awaiting Cabal/Farah in the semi-finals will be sixth seeds Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares, who ousted third seeds Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus 6-1, 6-3 in 53 minutes. The Croatian-Brazilian team lost just two first-serve points and did not face a break point.