Krawietz/Mies Reach Wimbledon QFs, Ken Skupski Plays Final Match

After Ken Skupski made a strong start to his 14th and final Wimbledon campaign alongside Jonny O’Mara, the Briton’s professional career came to an end Monday with a third-round defeat.

Skupski, a seven-time ATP Tour titlist, announced his plan to retire after Wimbledon in a social media post prior to the grass-court major. The lefty and O’Mara opened the tournament with two straight-sets victories, but Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies proved to be the final opponents of Skupski’s career.

The two-time Roland Garros champions earned a 7-6(6), 6-4, 6-4 victory to book a quarter-final matchup against defending champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.

Skupski won three of his seven ATP Tour crowns alongside younger brother Neal Skupski, including his maiden ATP 500 trophy in Acapulco in 2021. The brothers also reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 2017. The 39-year-old Ken reached his career-high of No. 44 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings in July 2010.

“Tennis has given me so much over the years and I expect it will continue to give me plenty more in the future,” Skupski wrote in the post announcing his retirement. “I would like to thank everyone who has helped and supported me along the way. I’ve made some amazing friends, competed with many amazing players and shared the court with some legends of the game.”

Skupski’s brother Neal also exited the grass-court major on Monday in the third round. Fourteenth seeds Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell defeated  the 32-year-old and his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof 7-5, 6-4, 3-6 , 4-6, 7-5.

Ebden and Purcell, who lifted their maiden ATP Tour title together on the Houston clay in April, have enjoyed a strong grass-court season. The all-Australian duo reached the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the semi-finals in Mallorca in the lead-up to Wimbledon.

Ebden and Purcell will next face countryman John Peers and partner Filip Polasek, who were 7-6(5), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 winners against Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. Peers and Polasek struck 18 winners to their opponents’ 10 to reach the quarter-finals at SW19 on their tournament debut as a team.

Denis Kudla and Jack Sock enjoyed a comfortable path to the quarter-finals as the Americans defeated 13th seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. Kudla and two-time Wimbledon champion Sock did not face a break point in their one-hour, 33-minute victory. Their quarter-final opponents will be sixth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.