Murray Showdown: Andy Faces Jamie In Cincinnati

The all-Murray doubles showdown that fans have been waiting for will finally happen at the Western & Southern Open. Andy Murray and Feliciano Lopez sealed the date with their 2-6, 6-3, 10-7 win over Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock on Thursday, setting a quarter-final showdown with Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski.

The Murray brothers have played each other once before at the 2015 Coupe Rogers. Jamie (w/Peers) defeated Andy (w/Paes) 6-4, 7-6(9) in their second-round clash.

“We played loads growing up. I was probably better until I was about 13 or 14 and then he was way better after that,” said Jamie. “It wasn’t weird then because we were playing so often, but now it’s your job and your livelihood at stake.”

Top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah moved into the last eight with a 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 10-8 victory over Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov. The win also made them the first team to qualify for this year’s Nitto ATP Finals, held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November. Cabal/Farah will compete in London for the first time since capturing their maiden Grand Slam title last month at Wimbledon (d. Mahut/Roger-Vasselin).

“It’s always nice to qualify to the O2 so early in the year,” said Farah. “It means that we’ve done really well and that shows all the work we’ve put in. It’s a very good feeling.”

Seventh seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers saved a match point at 9/10 in the Match Tie-break of their 6-1, 3-6, 12-10 win over Diego Schwartzman and Horacio Zeballos, setting up a quarter-final showdown with Cabal/Farah. Sixth seeds Mate Pavic and Bruno Soares beat Marcelo Demoliner and Daniil Medvedev 7-5, 7-6(5).

Rounding out the day’s second-round matches were second seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who cruised past Cristian Garin and Benoit Paire 6-4, 6-3.