Wimbledon 2023 results: Britain's Neal Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof into doubles final
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Skupski won the mixed doubles titles in 2021 and 2022 alongside American partner Desirae Krawczyk
Wimbledon 2023 on the BBC |
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Venue: All England Club Dates: 3-16 July |
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details here. |
Britain's Neal Skupski says winning the Wimbledon men's doubles title would be the "holy grail" as he prepares for the final with partner Wesley Koolhof.
Skupksi and his Dutch partner face Argentina's Horacio Zeballos and Spain's Marcel Granollers - the 15th seeds - on Centre Court on Saturday.
The top seeds have never won a Grand Slam together having teamed up 18 months ago.
"This is the pinnacle achievement if we can get over the line," Skupski said.
"We want to win our first Grand Slam together and for me it would be extra special to do it here at Wimbledon."
The final takes place after the women's singles final, which starts at 14:00 BST.
Skupski's brother Ken, his former doubles partner and now coach after he retired last year, will miss the final after booking a holiday and not realising it would clash with the match.
Ken had been due to go on Thursday but opted to stay to be there for his brother's semi-final match but will now travel to Ibiza on Friday.
"I'm sure he'd love to be here but he doesn't get to go on holiday very often because he's on the tour with me quite a bit," said Skupski.
"He'll enjoy the time away with his family but I'm sure he'll have a close eye on the final on Saturday."
Wimbledon 2023: Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof win point after a wild rally on Court One
Having won the mixed doubles in 2021 and 2022 with American partner Desirae Krawczyk, Skupski is bidding to become the first Briton to win a non-wheelchair Wimbledon title three consecutive years since 1937 when Dorothy Round did it.
Skupski has gone beyond the third round only once before in men's doubles at Wimbledon, in 2017, and there has not been a British men's doubles champion at SW19 since Jonathan Marray won alongside Danish partner Frederik Nielsen in 2012.
"It is always nice to have a Brit at the end of the tournament at Wimbledon. Luckily, it's been myself over the last couple of years in the mixed doubles," Skupski said.
"I saw Jonny [Marray] earlier and asked him if he had any tips for me going into the semi-final.
"He didn't give me any, he just laughed and said, 'You're number one, you'll be fine'. So those are the words of wisdom he had for me."
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