By Tony Fairbairn
- Britwatch assesses the 2023 doubles season as there was Grand Slam success for Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury while Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden broke through at Wimbledon.
LONDON, ENGLAND – An eventful 2023 doubles season saw British success at Grand Slam events as Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury became the big winners of the doubles circuit once again.
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The doubles season once again delivered some dramatic and successful moments for British players, so now it’s time to reflect on the highs and lows for the 2023 season and how it will affect the 2024 season.
1) Neal Skupski wins Wimbledon men’s doubles title
The biggest highlight of the season was Neal Skupski’s Wimbledon title win as he won the men’s doubles title alongside Wesley Koolhof. The pairing capped off their sensational last two years with a Grand Slam title by defeating Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the final at SW19.
Despite their success at Wimbledon, Skupski and Koolhof will now part ways in 2024 after the duo only won two titles this season. Koolhof will team up with Nikola Mektic in his last year as a professional tennis player while the question remains who Skupski will team up with next season as he looks to keep the momentum from 2023 into next year.
2) Joe Salisbury makes US Open history
It was another historic US Open campaign for Joe Salisbury as he won his third consecutive US Open title alongside Rajeev Ram. The duo became the first doubles team in the Open Era to win three consecutive men’s doubles titles in New York after defeating Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden in the final.
An impressive response to a poor first half of the season and the British-American duo kept the momentum going as they successfully defended their ATP Finals title in Turin. Now Salisbury will look to keep the momentum going into next season as Salisbury will look to impress before the Olympic Games in Paris.
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3) Bains and Lumsden make Wimbledon breakthrough
The final doubles highlight this season was the breakthrough of Naiktha Bains and Maia Lumsden as they achieved a statement result at Wimbledon by reaching the quarter-finals. The British duo achieved their best ever result at SW19 as they beat renowned doubles specialists on their way to the last eight before losing to eventual finalists Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens.
Now the future looks bright for the pair as they ended the season inside the world’s top 100 in doubles and will now look forward to many more tournaments on the WTA tour as they look to gain experience and elevate their ranking even further.
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