Harrison and Skupski Clinch First Grand Slam Title with Australian Open Men’s Doubles Triumph

Melbourne — Playing only their second tour-level tournament together, Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski captured their maiden Grand Slam title as a team by winning the Australian Open men’s doubles crown on Saturday.

The American-British pair defeated Australian wildcards Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans 7-6(4), 6-4 in the final at Rod Laver Arena, sealing the championship in one hour and 49 minutes.

Harrison and Skupski, who both featured at last year’s ATP Finals with different partners, teamed up for the first time earlier this month in Adelaide, where they reached the semifinals. As sixth seeds in Melbourne, they delivered a composed semifinal performance to overcome two-time major champions Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 7-6(7) and advance to the final.

Kubler and Polmans put up a spirited fight in the championship match, thrilling the home crowd by clawing back from 2-5 down in the opening set to force a tie-break. However, the momentum shifted decisively when Harrison and Skupski won four straight points from 3-4 to take the first set.

Building on that advantage, the sixth seeds broke serve in the third game of the second set and closed out the match on their second championship point, with Harrison sealing victory with an ace down the T, according to the ATP.

Kubler was aiming for his second Australian Open doubles title, having previously won in 2023 alongside Rinky Hijikata as a wildcard. He held an impressive 14–3 doubles record at his home Grand Slam. For Polmans, the final represented his best-ever doubles result at Melbourne Park, surpassing his previous best of a semifinal appearance in 2017 with Andrew Whittington.

Earlier on Saturday, Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai claimed the women’s doubles title with a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic. It marked their ninth Grand Slam doubles title together, achieved in just their seventh tournament as a pair.

On Friday, Gadecki and John Peers became the first duo in 37 years to successfully defend the Australian Open mixed doubles title.

With inputs from IANS