Rolex Paris Masters 2026: Neal Skupski and Christian Harrison finish runners-up to French duo
• 2 minute read
Britain’s Neal Skupski and American partner Christian Harrison have finished runners-up at the Rolex Paris Masters after losing a close final against home favourites Quentin Halys and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
The second seeds reached the final without dropping a set but couldn’t find a way past the French wild cards, with Halys and Herbert closing out a 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 10-8 win in an hour and 53 minutes.
Speaking after the match, Skupski said, “Congrats guys, it’s been an amazing week for you. You’ve taken out a lot of the doubles guys who are going to Turin. You’re a very dangerous team, so we’ll hopefully see you in Turin (next year) and congratulations to your team.”
“Congrats to our opponents,” Harrison added. “You guys were tough so you deserve the title, and happy for you guys to do it at home in front of the crowd.”
The world No.2s will now turn their attention to the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, which gets underway from Sunday 15 November. The reigning Australian Open and US Open champions will look to close out their first year as a partnership on a high by sealing the year-end title in Turin.
Fellow Brit Henry Patten has also qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals alongside Finnish partner Harri Heliovarra. The world No.1s reached the semi-finals in Paris but were knocked out by Halys and Herbert in Saturday’s semi-final.
With Skupski and Harrison finishing runners-up in Paris, Patten and Heliovaara have officially secured the year-end world No.1 crown.
Both teams earned one break of serve each in the opening set but it was the home favourites who raised their level in the tie-break, securing two mini breaks to see out a one set lead.
Halys and Herbert, who won 78% of their service points across the match, earned their first match point during the British, American pair's serve at 5-6, however Skupski fended off the threat with a backhand volley to hang firm.
The second seeds dug deep in the tie-break to stave off the French duo as they levelled the scoreboard to take the final to a match deciding tie-break.
Rallied on by the home crowd, Halys and Herbert quickly opened up a 4-1 lead. Despite the two-time Grand Slam winning pair recovering one of the mini-breaks, the Frenchmen proved too tough to break down on serve as they eventually closed out their second title as a team as Harrison sent a backhand wide.
In the WC500 draw, Alfie Hewett sealed his second consecutive Paris Masters singles title after beating Gustavo Fernandez 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
