Neal Skupski (born 1 December 1989) is a British professional
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles
ranking
A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second.
In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...
of world No. 1 on 14 November 2022.
He is a two-time
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
champion in mixed doubles, having won the
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
and
2022 Wimbledon Championships
The 2022 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tier tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. Novak Djokovic successfully defended his gentleme ...
alongside
Desirae Krawczyk
Desirae Marie Krawczyk (; born January 11, 1994) is an American professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
Krawczyk has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 10, achieved in July 2022, and has won seven titles on the WTA Tour, ...
. Skupski has won 13 titles on the
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...
, including the
2022 Madrid Open,
2022 Canadian Open and the
2022 Paris Masters with partner
Wesley Koolhof
Wesley Koolhof (; born 17 April 1989) is a Dutch professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 in doubles on 7 November 2022.
He has won 14 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, mos ...
, and has finished runner-up at the
US Open and four further
Masters 1000
The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...
events. He also reached the men's doubles semifinals at the
2019 US Open with
Jamie Murray
Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
, and has reached the quarterfinals or better at all four major tournaments.
He is the younger brother of former tennis player
Ken Skupski
Ken Skupski Jr. (born 9 April 1983) is a British former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles.
He reached his career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 44 in July 2010, and won seven titles on the ATP Tour, most notably the ...
, and the pair regularly competed together until 2021, most notably winning the
2021 Mexican Open. Skupski has represented Great Britain in the
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
since 2019, and competed at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
.
__TOC__
Early life and professional career
Skupski was born in
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
and went to
King David High School. His father, Ken Sr. of Polish descent, is a retired police officer, his mother Mary is a golfer. Neal is the younger brother of
Ken Skupski Jr., with whom he has regularly partnered since 2013. He competed in a handful of matches in 2010 and 2011, before taking a year out to finish his degree at
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
, where he studied sports administration as well as playing college tennis, before turning professional in 2013.
2013: ATP debut, first ATP final, top 100 debut
He began competing as a professional in 2013, initially playing on the Futures and
Challenger Tours. After playing with a number of partners, he started competing more frequently with his brother Ken from March 2013 onwards.
The pair reached the final of the
Nottingham Trophy on the
Challenger Tour, before winning five Challenger titles in 2013, as of 23 September. These wins saw Neal move into the world top 200 in July 2013.
At the
2013 Kremlin Cup the Skupski brothers entered their first
ATP World Tour
The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...
tournament, progressing to the final, where they lost on a tie-break. Following the final, Neal moved into the top 100 for the first time, having been unranked at the start of the season. He ended 2013 ranked 86th in the world.
2017–2018: First Grand Slam quarterfinal, first two ATP titles
At the
2017 Wimbledon Championships
The 2017 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main draw matches commenced on 3 July 2017 and concluded on 16 July 20 ...
he reached the quarterfinals as a wildcard for the first time in his career partnering with his brother Ken where they were defeated by 4th seeded pair
Łukasz Kubot
Łukasz Kubot (; born 16 May 1982) is a Polish professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the 2017 W ...
and
Marcelo Melo
Marcelo is a given name, the Spanish and Portuguese form of Marcellus. The Italian version of the name is Marcello, differing in having an additional "l". Marcelo may refer to:
* Marcelo Costa de Andrade (born 1967), Brazilian serial killer, rapi ...
.
Skupski won his first ATP Tour title at the
Open Sud de France
The Open Sud de France (formerly known as the Grand Prix de Tennis de Lyon) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is currently part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour. It was held annually at the Palais des ...
, partnering again with his brother
Ken
Ken or KEN may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer.
* ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film.
* ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine.
* Ken Masters, a main character in ...
, their first ATP title together. He won his second and biggest title of his career thus far at the ATP 500
2018 Vienna Open partnering with fellow Brit
Joe Salisbury
Joe Salisbury ( ; born 20 April 1992) is a British professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open and the 2022 US Open in men's ...
.
2019–2020: First Major mixed-doubles & doubles semifinals and Masters final
Skupski and Spanish partner
María José Martínez Sánchez
María José Martínez Sánchez (; born 12 August 1982) is a Spanish retired professional tennis player. In singles, she has won five WTA singles titles, her biggest being a Premier 5 title at the 2010 Italian Open where she defeated two form ...
were defeated in their mixed doubles semifinal at the
2019 Australian Open by third seeded pair and eventual champions
Barbora Krejčíková
Barbora Krejčíková (; born 18 December 1995) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2, achieved on 28 February 2022, and on 22 October 2018, she became List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles ten ...
and
Rajeev Ram
Rajeev Ram ( ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
Ram is a five-time major champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open, and the 2022 US Open in men's d ...
.
Following the 2019 French Open, Skupski formed a partnership with fellow Briton
Jamie Murray
Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
. With Murray he reached his first Grand Slam semifinal at the
2019 US Open (tennis) where they lost to the top-seeded Colombian pair and eventual champions
Juan Sebastián Cabal
Juan Sebastián Cabal Valdés (; born 25 April 1986) is a Colombian professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 184 in February 2011, but has achieved most of his success i ...
and
Robert Farah.
He made his first Masters 1000 final at the
2020 Western & Southern Open
The 2020 Western & Southern Open was a men's and women's tennis tournament being played on outdoor hard courts from August 22–29, 2020. It was the first Masters 1000 tournament on the 2020 ATP Tour and the second WTA Premier 5 tournament on th ...
defeating top seeded pair Cabal/Farah in the first round en-route before losing to
Pablo Carreno Busta
Pablo is a Spanish form of the name Paul.
People
*Pablo Alborán, Spanish singer
*Pablo Aimar, Argentine footballer
*Pablo Armero, Colombian footballer
* Pablo Bartholomew, Indian photojournalist
*Pablo Brandán, Argentine footballer
* Pablo Brene ...
and
Alex de Minaur
Alex de Minaur ( ; es, Álex de Miñaur Román, ; born 17 February 1999) is an Australian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 15 on 28 June 2021 and a doubles ranking of No. 58 on 12 October 2020.
...
in the final, and won his fourth ATP doubles title at the
2020 Sofia Open
The 2020 Sofia Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 5th edition of the Sofia Open as part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2020 ATP Tour. Originally scheduled for 28 September to 4 October at the Arena Armeec ...
by a walkover from
Jürgen Melzer
Jürgen Melzer (born 22 May 1981) is an Austrian former professional tennis player. Melzer reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 in April 2011, and a doubles ranking of world No. 6 in September 2010. He has a younger brother, Geral ...
and
Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Édouard Roger-Vasselin (; born 28 November 1983) is a French professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles.
He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2014 French Open, winning the men's doubles partnering Julien Benneteau, a ...
.
The pair Skupski/Murray also reached the quarterfinals at the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, which was Neal’s first showing at this level at this Major and third overall and again the quarterfinals at the
US Open.
2021: Top 15 debut and Wimbledon mixed-doubles champion, Olympics debut
In March, Skupski won his fifth ATP title with his brother Ken at the
Mexican Open.
Two weeks later, he reached his second Masters-1000 final with compatriot
Dan Evans at the
Miami Open and entered the top 20 in the doubles rankings for the first time. Again two weeks later and partnering with Dan Evans, he reached his third Masters 1000 final at the
Monte-Carlo Masters
The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
and climbed to a career-high ranking in doubles of world No. 16 on 19 April 2021. On 11 July 2021, partnering with
Desirae Krawczyk
Desirae Marie Krawczyk (; born January 11, 1994) is an American professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
Krawczyk has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 10, achieved in July 2022, and has won seven titles on the WTA Tour, ...
, he won the
Wimbledon mixed-doubles final. He reached the top 15 in doubles on 12 July 2021.
At the
2021 San Diego Open
The 2021 San Diego Open was a men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 1st edition of the San Diego Open, and part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the 2021 ATP Tour.
It was primarily organized due to the cancellation o ...
Skupski won his sixth title and second of the season partnering
Joe Salisbury
Joe Salisbury ( ; born 20 April 1992) is a British professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open and the 2022 US Open in men's ...
.
2022: Partnership with Koolhof, Four ATP & Three Masters & mixed doubles titles, World No. 1
Partnering with
Wesley Koolhof
Wesley Koolhof (; born 17 April 1989) is a Dutch professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 in doubles on 7 November 2022.
He has won 14 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, mos ...
he won two ATP 250 titles during the Australian Summer swing, before the
2022 Australian Open
The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...
. The pair reached the quarterfinals at the first Grand Slam of the year for the first time at this Major. They won their third title at the
2022 Qatar ExxonMobil Open dropping only one set en route to the final where they defeated
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His tennis singles, singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member ...
and
Denis Shapovalov
Denis Viktorovich Shapovalov (born 15 April 1999) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 10 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) which he first achieved in September 2020. He is th ...
in straight sets. He reached the final of the
2022 Miami Open
The 2022 Miami Open was a professional hardcourt tennis tournament played from March 22 to April 3, 2022 on the grounds of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It was the 37th edition of the men's and women's event and was classified as a ...
with Koolhof where they lost to
John Isner
John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
Considered one of the best servers ...
and
Hubert Hurkacz
Hubert Hurkacz (; born 11 February 1997) is a Polish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in November 2021, making him the highe ...
.
Seeded seventh, they reached their second Masters 1000 final at the
2022 Mutua Madrid Open
The 2022 Madrid Open (sponsored by Mutua Madrileña, Mutua) was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Caja Mágica, Park Manzanares in Madrid, Spain from 28 April to 8 May 2022. It was the 20th edition of the event ...
after defeating John Isner and Hubert Hurkacz. In the final they defeated fifth seeds
Robert Farah and
Juan Sebastián Cabal
Juan Sebastián Cabal Valdés (; born 25 April 1986) is a Colombian professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 184 in February 2011, but has achieved most of his success i ...
to win their first Masters 1000 title in their career and as a pair.
At the
2022 French Open
The 2022 French Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 22 May to 5 June 2022, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair ...
he reached the quarterfinals with Koolhof for the second time at this Major, defeating unseeded pair of Americans
Tommy Paul
Tommy Paul (4 March 1909 – 28 April 1991) was a world featherweight boxing champion from Buffalo, New York. He won the world featherweight championship in May 1932, defeating Johnny Pena in a boxing tournament in Detroit. He was inducted in ...
and
Mackenzie McDonald
Michael Mackenzie Lowe "Mackie" McDonald (born April 16, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 48 on 1 August 2022, and No. 90 in doubles on 17 October 2022. He won the 2016 NCAA ...
. As a result Skupski entered the top 10 of the
ATP rankings
The Pepperstone ATP rankings are the merit-based method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for determining the qualification for entry as well as the seeding of players in all singles and doubles tournaments. The first rankings ...
in doubles for the first time on 6 June 2022.
At the
2022 Wimbledon Championships
The 2022 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tier tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. Novak Djokovic successfully defended his gentleme ...
he successfully defended and won his second Major title in mixed doubles again partnering
Desirae Krawczyk
Desirae Marie Krawczyk (; born January 11, 1994) is an American professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
Krawczyk has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 10, achieved in July 2022, and has won seven titles on the WTA Tour, ...
. They defeated
Matthew Ebden
Matthew Ebden (born 26 November 1987) is an Australian professional tennis player.
He is a two-time Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam champion, having won the 2022 Wimbledon Championships – Men's doubles, 2022 Wimbledon Championships in men's ...
and
Samantha Stosur
Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten s ...
in straight sets. He reached the top 5 in the doubles rankings on 18 July 2022.
At the
2022 National Bank Open he reached with Koolhof the semifinals of a Masters 1000 for the third time in the season defeating
Lloyd Glasspool
Lloyd Glasspool (born 19 November 1993) is a British professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 12 (November 2022) and a career-high singles ranking of No. 282 (July 2016). In his career, Gl ...
/
Harri Heliövaara
Harri Heliövaara (born 4 June 1989) is a Finnish tennis player. His highest ranking in singles is World No. 194, which he achieved on 19 December 2011. His highest ranking in doubles is world No. 9, which he achieved on 9 January 2023. In double ...
. Next the pair advanced to the eight final of the season defeating Krawietz/Mies. They won their sixth title defeating
Dan Evans and
John Peers
John William Peers (born 25 July 1988) is an Australian professional tennis player who specialises in doubles.
He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open, where he and Henri Kontinen won the men's doubles event. Peers also ...
. As a result he moved to world No. 4 in the doubles rankings on 15 August 2022 and to No. 3 on 22 August 2022.
Seeded 2nd at the
US Open the pair reached the quarterfinals defeating Wimbledon champions Australian pair of Ebden/Purcell in three sets. Next they defeated
Marcelo Demoliner
Marcelo Fedrizzi Demoliner (born 18 January 1989) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, he won his first title at the ATP 250 Antalya Open with Santiago González in June 2018, after having reached six finals at that ...
and
Joao Sousa to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, they defeated
Marcelo Arevalo and
Jean-Julien Rojer
Jean-Julien Rojer (; ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015.
He is a four-time Grand Slam champion, havi ...
. In the finals, they lost in straight sets to
Rajeev Ram
Rajeev Ram ( ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
Ram is a five-time major champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open, and the 2022 US Open in men's d ...
and
Joe Salisbury
Joe Salisbury ( ; born 20 April 1992) is a British professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles.
He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open and the 2022 US Open in men's ...
. At the
2022 Rolex Paris Masters
The 2022 Rolex Paris Masters was a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 50th edition of the tournament, and a Masters 1000 event on the 2022 ATP Tour. It took place at the Accor Arena in Paris, France, fro ...
the pair Koolhof/Skupski reached the semifinals defeating ninth seeds
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His tennis singles, singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member ...
/
Matwe Middelkoop climbing to World No. 1 and World No. 2 and solidifying the No. 1 position as a pair in the doubles race. They reached their 10th final and fourth at a Masters level for the season defeating seventh seeds
Lloyd Glasspool
Lloyd Glasspool (born 19 November 1993) is a British professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. He has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 12 (November 2022) and a career-high singles ranking of No. 282 (July 2016). In his career, Gl ...
/
Harri Heliövaara
Harri Heliövaara (born 4 June 1989) is a Finnish tennis player. His highest ranking in singles is World No. 194, which he achieved on 19 December 2011. His highest ranking in doubles is world No. 9, which he achieved on 9 January 2023. In double ...
. They won their third Masters title and seventh title for the season defeating eight seeds
Ivan Dodig
Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles.
He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's doubles titles at the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo, and the 2021 Aus ...
/
Austin Krajicek
Austin Krajicek (born June 16, 1990) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP ranking in doubles of World No. 9 achieved on 7 November 2022 and in singles of World No. 94 achieved on October 26, 2015. He is a distant co ...
in the final. They also clinched the No. 1 year-end ranking as a team. Skupski became joint world No. 1 with Koolhof in doubles on 14 November 2022.
World TeamTennis
Skupski has played five seasons with
World TeamTennis
World TeamTennis (WTT) is a mixed-gender professional tennis league played with a team format in the United States, which was founded in 1973.
The league's season normally takes place in the summer months. Players from the ATP and WTA take a ...
starting in 2015 when he made his league debut with the
California Dream
The California Dream is the psychological motivation to gain fast wealth or fame in a new land. As a result of the California Gold Rush after 1849, California's name became indelibly connected with the Gold Rush, and fast success in a new world ...
. He has since played four seasons (2016-2019) for the
New York Empire. Skupski was a part of the
New York Empire, who claimed the King Trophy during 2020 WTT season at
The Greenbrier
The Greenbrier is a luxury resort located in the Allegheny Mountains near White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia, in the United States.
Since 1778, visitors have traveled to this part of the state to "take the waters" of the ...
.
Significant finals
Grand Slam tournament finals
Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)
Mixed doubles: 2 (2 titles)
Masters 1000 finals
Doubles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)
ATP career finals
Doubles: 27 (13 titles, 14 runner-ups)
ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals
Doubles: 44 (30 titles, 14 runners-up)
Doubles performance timeline
''Current through the
2022 Paris Masters.''
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skupski, Neal
1989 births
Living people
People educated at King David High School, Liverpool
English expatriate sportspeople in the United States
English people of Polish descent
English male tennis players
LSU Tigers tennis players
British male tennis players
Tennis people from Merseyside
Sportspeople from Liverpool
Wimbledon champions
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles
Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic tennis players of Great Britain
ATP number 1 ranked doubles tennis players