Koolhof/Skupski Continue US Open Title Quest

Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski moved to within three wins of capturing their first Grand Slam title and seventh tour-level crown of the season together Monday, edging Australians Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-3 at the US Open.

The second seeds, who became the first team to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals last week, raised their level in the key moments throughout their two-hour, 29-minute third-round win against the Wimbledon champions, breaking twice to advance.

The Dutch-British tandem will play Marcelo Demoliner and Joao Sousa in the quarter-finals after the Brazilian-Portuguese team downed Italians Lorenzo Sonego and Andrea Vavassori 7-6(4), 6-4.

With the pressure on, Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara stepped up and delivered, clawing past Australian Open champions Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-6(10-7) in two hours and 10 minutes.

The eighth seeds looked on the verge of victory when Kyrgios stepped up to serve at 8/7 in the Match Tie-break. However, the Australians were unable to cross the finish line, with Glasspool and Heliovaara hitting backhand return winners to turn the match in their favour. The British-Finn team, who won their second tour-level title together in Hamburg in July, will face Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the last eight.

The 2019 champions struck six aces as they rallied to defeat fourth seeds Tim Puetz and Michael Venus 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and 36 minutes.