Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski lifted the Australian Open men' doubles trophy in their first major as a team here on Saturday.
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MELBOURNE — Competing in just their second tour-level event together, Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski lifted the Australian Open men' doubles trophy in their first major as a team here on Saturday.
The American-British duo defeated home favourites Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans 7-6(4), 6-4 inside Rod Laver Arena to earn a one-hour, 49-minute championship-match triumph to claim the trophy.
Harrison and Skupski, who both competed at last year’s ATP Finals with different partners, joined forces for the first time in Adelaide earlier this month, where they reached the semi-finals. The sixth seeds produced a composed performance in the semifinals to defeat Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, a two-time major-winning team in 2025, 6-3, 7-6(7) for a place in the final.
Wild card pairing Kubler and Polmans battled admirably throughout the final, and they delighted the home fans by rallying from 2-5 in the opening set to force a tie-break. Yet the momentum of the match shifted dramatically after Harrison and Skupski won four consecutive points from 3/4 to move a set ahead.
Also read: Gadecki and Peers become first pair in 37 years to defend Aus Open mixed doubles title
The sixth-seeded Harrison and Skupski built on that tie-break success by crucially breaking serve in the third game of the second set, and they sealed victory on their second match point after Harrison fired an ace down the T, ATP reports.
Kubler was bidding for his second Australian Open doubles crown after triumphing with Rinky Hijikata, also as wildcards, in 2023. He owned a 14–3 doubles record at his home major, according to the ATP Win/Loss Index, highlighted by his title run in 2023 alongside fellow Australian Hijikata. For Polmans, the final marked his best doubles result at Melbourne Park, surpassing his previous Australian Open high of a semi-final appearance on debut in 2017 with Andrew Whittington.
Earlier on Saturday, Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai, who last played a Grand Slam together at Wimbledon in 2022, defeated Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic 7-6(4), 6-4 to win the women's doubles crown, what is a ninth Grand Slam doubles title between them in just their seventh career event as a pair.
On Friday, Gadecki and Peers become the first pair in 37 years to defend the Australian Open mixed doubles title.
Mertens and Zhang win Australian Open women's doubles title
MELBOURNE — Elise Mertens and Zhang Shuai, who last played a Grand Slam together at Wimbledon in 2022, reunited at the Australian Open to win the women's doubles title.
The Belgian-Chinese duo defeated Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic 7-6(4), 6-4 to win what is a ninth Grand Slam doubles title between them in just their seventh career event as a pair.
Mertens now has six Grand Slams, three in Australia, while Zhang has three. Zhang lifted her other women's doubles trophies with the now-retired Samantha Stosur at the 2019 Australian Open and the 2021 US Open.
Mertens has now won a doubles Grand Slam in each of the last three years. Currently ranked World No. 6, Mertens was assured of getting back to World No. 1 regardless of the final result. She will log her 40th week on top next week.
The No. 4 seeds pulled away against the No. 7 seeds after coming from 4-1 behind in the first set. They later stormed out to a 5-0 lead in the second set, and needed almost every bit of that cushion. They didn't wrap up the win until five games later -- and after two championship points slipped away at 5-2, WTA reports.
Meanwhile, hometown wildcards Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans Re in the action in the men's doubles finals.
Kubler is bidding for his second Australian Open doubles crown after triumphing with Rinky Hijikata, also as wildcards, in 2023. Polmans, a semifinalist with Andrew Whittington at Melbourne Park in 2017, is contesting his first Grand Slam final.
In the mixed doubles final on Friday, hometown wildcards Olivia Gadecki and John Peers broke a 37-year drought when they became the first pairing to defend their Australian Open mixed doubles crown in thrilling fashion.
Gadecki and Peers became the first duo to win consecutive AO mixed doubles titles since Jana Novotna and Jim Pugh in 1988-89.
They became the first Australians to go back-to-back at their home Slam since Margaret Court and Ken Fletcher achieved the feat in 1963-64.