Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski continued their strong start to the season by reaching their fourth tour-level final of the year on Thursday at the Miami Open presented by Itau.
The sixth seeds recovered from a second-set dip to move past Italians Simone Bolelli 6-1, 3-6, 10-5 in 76 minutes. Koolhof and Skupski have now won five of the six Match Tie-breaks that they have contested in 2022, demonstrating their fighting qualities.
The Dutch-British pair has tasted great success since they teamed for the first time at the beginning of the year, winning tour-level titles together in Melbourne, Adelaide and Doha.
In a tight clash against Bolelli and Fognini, Koolhof and Skupski hit three aces and won 89 per cent (25/28) of their first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
They have dropped just one set this week in Miami and will next face Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner in the final on Saturday. In a battle of wild cards, the Polish/American pairing dismissed Australian Open champions Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios, 6-4, 6-3, later on Thursday.
There were a surprising six breaks in this match featuring four strong servers, with five of those breaks coming in consecutive games across the two sets.That run started and ended with Kokkinakis surrendering serve. After Isner was unable to close out the opening set at 5-3, Kyrgios could not extend the set on his own delivery.
A trade of breaks opened the second set, and Hurkacz/Isner again got the better of the Kyrgios serve late to set up the Pole to serve out the match to love.
Seeking their first ATP Tour title as a pair, both Hurkacz and Isner have previously won ATP Masters 1000 doubles titles. Hurkacz, who is also through to the singles semi-finals, won the 2020 Rolex Paris Masters title with Felix Auger-Aliassime, while Isner is a four-time doubles champ at the Masters 1000 level, including his Indian Wells title with Jack Sock two weeks ago.
The sixth seeds recovered from a second-set dip to move past Italians Simone Bolelli 6-1, 3-6, 10-5 in 76 minutes. Koolhof and Skupski have now won five of the six Match Tie-breaks that they have contested in 2022, demonstrating their fighting qualities.
The Dutch-British pair has tasted great success since they teamed for the first time at the beginning of the year, winning tour-level titles together in Melbourne, Adelaide and Doha.
In a tight clash against Bolelli and Fognini, Koolhof and Skupski hit three aces and won 89 per cent (25/28) of their first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
They have dropped just one set this week in Miami and will next face Hubert Hurkacz and John Isner in the final on Saturday. In a battle of wild cards, the Polish/American pairing dismissed Australian Open champions Thanasi Kokkinakis and Nick Kyrgios, 6-4, 6-3, later on Thursday.
There were a surprising six breaks in this match featuring four strong servers, with five of those breaks coming in consecutive games across the two sets.That run started and ended with Kokkinakis surrendering serve. After Isner was unable to close out the opening set at 5-3, Kyrgios could not extend the set on his own delivery.
A trade of breaks opened the second set, and Hurkacz/Isner again got the better of the Kyrgios serve late to set up the Pole to serve out the match to love.
Seeking their first ATP Tour title as a pair, both Hurkacz and Isner have previously won ATP Masters 1000 doubles titles. Hurkacz, who is also through to the singles semi-finals, won the 2020 Rolex Paris Masters title with Felix Auger-Aliassime, while Isner is a four-time doubles champ at the Masters 1000 level, including his Indian Wells title with Jack Sock two weeks ago.