Michael Venus (right) and Neal Skupski have won their first Queen's Club doubles title. (File photo) Photo: AFP / Getty Images North America
New Zealand tennis veteran Michael Venus and his new British partner Neal Skupski have won the doubles title at the Queen's Club in London.
The pair captured their first title as a team at the cinch Championships, where they clawed past singles stars Taylor Fritz and Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6(5), and 10-8 in a super tie break.
It is Venus's second doubles title of the year.
The seventh seeds played fearlessly in the crucial moments, closing the net and striking heavy returns. Skupski and Venus won 88 percent (37/42) of their first-serve points and raised their level in the match tie-break to triumph in London after 77 minutes.
"It has been very special," Skupski said. "First time winning at Queen's, first time winning with Mike. We went to university together and we go back a long way. We have never been able to play on tour much together, so this was nice to play with him."
Skupski, the Wimbledon men's doubles champion, and Venus, the world No 26, who were teaming up in just their third tour-level event together, were impressive throughout their run at the ATP 500.
They defeated second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the quarter-finals and downed 2023 champs Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in the last four, not dropping a set in either match.
Skupski, 34, is the first Briton to win the doubles title at Queen's since Andy Murray won with Feliciano Lopez in 2019. Venus, 36, is the first player from New Zealand to win the title in the Open Era (since 1968).
The partnership between Skupski and Venus might be in its infancy at the professional level, but the duo have years of experience playing together at the same college in the United States - Louisiana State University - more than a decade ago.
Venus had been competing alongside Jamie Murray for the past seasons before lining up with Skupski, the world No16, at the start of the grasscourt season.