Roland Garros 2025: Joe Salisbury & Neal Skupski finish runners-up in men’s doubles final
• 2 MINUTE READ
British doubles duo Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski finished Roland Garros men’s doubles runners-up following a tight three-set epic against Marcelo Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.
Salisbury and Skupski came back from a set down to force a decider but eventually lost out in a 6-0, 6-7(5), 7-5 defeat.
Despite losing out on the title, the all-British pair leave Paris having made history at the tournament - becoming the first British players to reach the men’s doubles final at Roland Garros since 1936.
Speaking after the match, Salisbury said, “Firstly, I want to congratulate Marcelo and Horacio - you guys deserve this more than anyone, you’ve been playing amazing tennis and have been an amazing team for so many years. If we were going to lose this final to anyone then it would’ve been so guys so congratulations.
“A big thank you to all of our team, all of our coaches, support team, family and friends - you’ve been amazing. We’ve had an amazing couple of weeks and we’ve got a lot to be proud of so thank you for the support."
“Congratulations, you’ve got me back for a couple of years ago (Wimbledon 2023 final),” Skupski added. “It was definitely your night tonight.”
“To Joe and our team, it was a tough start of the year but we put the work in and it’s going a lot better now and we’re definitely progressing. We’ve arrived now as a team, I’m looking forward to the grass court season in a couple of weeks but we should be really proud of what we’ve done here. The first Brits to make the final here at Roland Garros in doubles so we should keep our heads up.”
It was a slow start for the Brits who were broken in the opening game of the match, which set the tone for a dominant set from Granollers and Zeballos.
The Brits struggled on serve, landing just 47% of first serves in and winning just 14% points behind it - opening the door for the Spanish, Argentine duo to launch their attack.
The fifth seeds showcased a masterclass on the return, winning 12/15 points on the Brits service games to break them three times in a row and wrap up a flawless set of tennis in just 24 minutes as Granollers put away another smash at the net.
A tight second set, saw the Brits successfully fend off all five of their break points as we eventually headed towards a tie-break where both teams gave little away. However, it was world No.5s who were the first to blink as Granollers hit an overhead wide to hand the Brits the mini-break before they sealed the set thanks to a sturdy volley at the net from Salisbury.
The Brits looked like they were building momentum in the decider as they sealed a break to love but their opponents quickly brought the excitement back down as they broke straight back.
From then on out, there was nothing separating the two pairs until, out of nowhere the Spanish, Argentine duo opened up an opportunity at 6-5 - hunting down three championship points on the Skupski serve.
The Brits dug deep to try and stay in contention but a fiery forehand from the Spaniard was too powerful for Salisbury to handle, as he returned the volley into the net to seal a first Grand Slam title for Granollers and Zeballos.
The Brits will now look to carry their momentum into the grass court season where they’ll continue their quest for a first title as a partnership.
