Australian Open 2026: Neal Skupski & Christian Harrison reach men’s doubles final
• 2 minute read
British doubles star Neal Skupski is set for his first Australian Open men’s doubles final on Saturday in only his first tournament with American partner Christian Harrison.
Sixth seeds Skupski and Harrison put on an impressive semi-final performance to defeat last year’s Roland Garros and US Open champions Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 7-6(7).
The British, American duo came back from 5-3 down in the second set and saved set point in the tie-break to complete their victory in an hour and 38 minutes.
Skupski is now through to his third Grand Slam final in his last four major events – having lost to Granollers and Zeballos in his two most recent finals with Joe Salisbury.
“It feels amazing – my first Australian Open men’s doubles final,” Skupski said after the match. “I’m really glad to get the win against those guys as they were my nemesis last year.”
In the final, they will play Australian wild cards Jason Kubler and Marc Polmans after they knocked out Britain’s Luke Johnson and Poland’s Jan Zielinski 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Kubler is a former Australian Open champion with another fellow countryman Rinky Hijikata – lifting the title back in 2023.
“I’m very excited for Saturday,” said Skupski. “It’s going to be a tough one against two Aussies. Jason Kubler has won the title before and they’ll have the home support behind them. Hopefully we can get some fans in and make it a bit rowdy.”
The new partnership of Skupski and Harrison couldn’t have got off to a better start.
Having spent some of pre-season together and then having the chance to train throughout the United Cup as well, the two came into the season with a better understanding of each other’s game.
It seems to have paid off. A semi-final in Adelaide has now been followed by both of their first Australian Open finals, as Skupski bids for his second Grand Slam men’s doubles title of his career.
“We started our partnership last week in Adelaide, making the semi-finals, after pre-season in America for five weeks. Christian actually came out to Baton Rouge and we hit it off there, worked on a few things, and I got to know him a bit more.
In an interview with the ATP Tour last week, Skupski also said, “We’re just going to go with the flow, which seems to be working at the moment. We know each other’s strengths, so we’re trying to use them.
“It’s something that I’m very excited about this year. I think we can do a good job and we can be successful. It’s the start of something hopefully over a long period of time. Looking forward to long success with Christian.”
Watch Skupski and Harrison take on Kubler and Polmans in the Australian Open men’s doubles final on Saturday 31 January exclusively on TNT Sports and Discovery+.
