Neal Skupski and doubles partner Wesley Koolhof go up against Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov in the quarter-finals of the Rotterdam Open later today.
The fourth seeds edged a 5-7, 7-5, 10-7 win over Russian powerhouse Karen Khachanov and defending singles champion Andrey Rublev in the first round.
Their opponents previously beat Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.
Progression to the semi-finals will see the duo go up against Lloyd Harris and Tim Putz on Saturday.
We can put out first result in the đź“š!
🇳🇱 Koolhof/Skupski 🇬🇧 prevail in the match tiebreak over 🇷🇺 Rublev/Khachanov 🇷🇺. #abnamrowtt pic.twitter.com/ZKtDY5Lyf4
— ABN AMRO WTT (@abnamrowtt) February 7, 2022
Merseyside-born Skupski, ATP doubles ranked 19, reached the quarter finals in 2020 with teammate Jamie Murray before they were beaten by Henri Kontinen and Jan-Lennard Struff.
In that same year, Dutch teammate Koolhof, ATP doubles ranked 21, won the Nitto ATP Open with teammate Nikola Mektic.
The pair’s 2022 partnership includes victories of two ATP 250 titles in Melbourne and Adelaide, as well as a quarter-final appearance in the Australian Open.
They lost 6-3, 4-6, 6-10 to eventual Australian runners up Matthew Edben and Max Purcell.
Other players competing in the singles Rotterdam Open last night includes Scotsman Andy Murray and Briton Cameron Norrie.
Murray beat Alexander Bublik in the first round 7-6 (6), 6-4 and will play Felix Auger-Aliassime in the next.
His Canadian opponent is a familiar foe who beat Murray in the second round of the 2020 US Open.
This is a loss which the Scotsman said he has never really recovered from.
Norrie beat sixth seed Khachanov in the round of 16 and will play against Murray if he is victorious tonight.
(Feature image provided under creative commons license by Carine06 @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/)
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