Brits make doubles history as the titles keep on coming
• 15 MINUTE READ
It was a week of doubles triumphs for the Brits as several familiar faces set new records and created their own piece of tennis history as the 2022 season draws to a close.
Salisbury makes history in Turin
Where else to start but in Turin, where three-time Grand Slam champion Joe Salisbury became the first British player to win the Nitto ATP Finals doubles event.
Teaming up with American, Rajeev Ram, the reigning US Open title holders went unbeaten at the Finals, finishing with an impressive 7-6(4), 6-4 victory over fourth seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.
“That’s probably up there with one of our best matches, one of our best matches as a team," said Salisbury.
"I think we’re so proud of everything we’ve done this week. We’ve come through some tough situations, but we’ve stuck together the whole way. I’m so happy, I can’t believe we’ve achieved this.”
This year Great Britain had three players in the men's doubles semi-finals for the first time, with Neal Skupski and Lloyd Glasspool bowing out in the final four.
Patten & Cash equal ATP Challenger record
Henry Patten and Julian Cash have won a record-equalling eighth ATP Challenger doubles title, coming through as champions in Drummondville last week.
The British duo have been the in-form team in the second half of the season and capped off their fourth title in their last five events with a 6-3, 6-3 win over fellow Brits Arthur Fery and Giles Hussey in the final.
Their haul of eight titles has only been matched by Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana in 2012. Impressively, all eight have come in the last six months of the season – starting with their first Challenger triumph at the Surbiton Trophy.
Bains shines down under
Naiktha Bains was the shining light at the W25 Traralgon last week as she claimed a fourth doubles title of the season, as well as reaching the final of the singles.
Bains and Alana Parnaby edged a close quarter-final against Aunchisa Chanta and Punnin Kovapitukted 6-7(5), 6-3, 14-12, as they continued to improve match by match, finishing with a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory over Haruna Arakawa and Natsuho Arakawa in the final.
The Brit also enjoyed a brilliant run in the singles, where she wracked up four straight-sets wins to reach the final, but eventually finished runner-up to Indonesia’s Priska Nugroho 6-4, 6-4.
Titles for Silva, Baker and Murgett
The doubles success continued for Eden Silva, Blu Baker and Finn Murgett who claimed trophies in France and the US.
Silva partnered with Conny Perrin to win her second title of the season at the W25 Saint Etienne. Silva and Perrin defeated both the fourth and top seeds in deciding match tie-breaks in their final matches – finishing with a 6-4, 4-6, 10-6 win over Ekaterina Kazionova and Ekaterina Makarova.
Baker won both the singles and doubles events at the M15 Boca Raton last week. The 21-year-old lost just won set in the singles, eventually finishing with a 7-6(4), 6-2 win over Sweden's Arvid Nordquist.
He then teamed up with fellow Brit Murgett to defeat Younes Laaroussi and Brandon Perez 3-6, 7-6(3), 10-8 in the doubles final to clinch Murgett’s first professional title.
Shuker finishes season on a high
Lucy Shuker’s final event of the season at the Open ParaTennis Du Loiret ended in doubles silverware as the British No.1 teamed up with familiar partner Dana Matthewson to lift the title.
Shuker and Matthewson dropped just four games in two matches as they defeated fellow Brit Cornelia Oosthuizen and Colombia’s Angelica Bernal 6-2, 6-1 in the final.
The win marked Shuker’s sixth title of the year and fourth doubles trophy – all alongside Matthewson.
The British No.1 also enjoyed success in the singles, beating Oosthuizen in the quarters and Pauline Deroulede, before eventually losing out to second seed Matthewson in the final 6-3, 7-6(5).
