Playing as a pair in their first major, Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski, the sixth seeds showed that excellent serving was the basis of good doubles.
Last year I came very close at the US Open and narrowly lost in the French. I look back on last year and started to look at where things went wrong at that moment, and I have learned from it Neal Skuspki
The American-British combination defeated home favourites, wildcards Jason Kubler and Marc Pulman 7-6(4) 6-4, to claim the trophy after one hour and 49 minutes in the title match and become doubles champion at the Australian Open.
The pair had played just one event prior to the AO, in Adelaide two weeks ago, and held their nerve at crucial moments in front of a loud crowd supporting their opponents.
“It’s of course nice to get another Grand Slam,” said Skupski, who won the 2023 Wimbledon doubles. “Last year I was very close at the US Open and narrowly lost in the French. I look back on last year and looked at where things went wrong at that moment, and I learned from it.”
“Christian has breathed new life into me this year. We obviously started last week in Adelaide. He came to Baton Rouge in December for a week of training, which was great to be on the court with him and get to know him a little better. It all definitely feels worth it now to lift this trophy.”
Harrison added at their post-match press conference: “Unreal experience. This place is unreal to play. The crowd is incredible. For me, though, it was just simple. I just focused on enjoying the moment with my partner. He brings a lot of experience. His level is just so high, and it felt very easy for me to just play my best tennis. So all credit to him.”
Kubler and Pulman proved to be excellent opponents. They rallied from 2–5 in the opening set to force a tiebreak, but could not hold on to second place as the sixth seeds regrouped and put together a four-point run to take the set at 3–4.
Harrison & Skupski followed that up by breaking the Aussies in the third game of the second, then secured victory when Harrison knocked down an ace on their second match point.
(L-R) Winners Christian Harrison of the United States, Neal Skupski of Great Britain and runners-up Marc Polmans and Jason Kubler of Australia pose after the men’s doubles final
(Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
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