Salisbury and Skupski fuel British charge to Turin
With a season of relentless finals behind them, Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski lock in their Nitto ATP Finals berth, joining a growing British contingent poised to challenge the doubles elite under Italian lights.
In the doubles world’s high-wire act, where partnerships can fracture under pressure or forge unbreakable bonds, Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski have clinched the fifth qualifying spot for the Nitto ATP Finals. This breakthrough marks them as the second all-British duo headed to Turin, the season’s glittering finale set for November 9 to 16, following in the footsteps of Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool. Their qualification stirs a surge of national momentum, transforming individual legacies into a collective push amid the tour’s fading autumn light.
Forging bonds amid seasonal fire
Teaming full-time for the first time in 2025, Salisbury and Skupski have navigated the psychological churn of a new alliance, each match a test of trust on courts from sun-baked hard to gripping clay. Salisbury arrives with the quiet gravitas of a five-time Nitto ATP Finals veteran, having partnered Rajeev Ram from 2019 through 2023 and lifting titles in 2022 and 2023 amid the electric hum of indoor arenas. Skupski, equally seasoned, tasted the event’s intensity alongside Wesley Koolhof in 2022 and 2023, their semi-final run that year ending against the very Ram-Salisbury duo in a clash defined by razor-sharp volleys and unyielding net coverage.
Their collaboration pulses with adapted rhythms—Salisbury‘s deep baseline feeds enabling Skupski‘s aggressive poaches, a one–two pattern that disrupts returns with crosscourt angles and timely inside-in lobs. This season’s grind has demanded constant recalibration, turning early doubts into synchronized precision that echoes the crowd’s rising roar after every hard-fought hold. As they prepare for Turin’s round-robin cauldron, their bond feels less like a fresh experiment and more like a weapon honed for the biggest stage.
Thriving through finals and surfaces
Consistency has been their hallmark in 2025, with five finals painting a portrait of resilience across the tour’s diverse theaters. They battled to the brink at Roland Garros, where clay’s slow drag forced patient rallies and underspin slices to neutralize heavy topspin, and the US Open, shifting to hard-court fury with down-the-line winners piercing New York’s humid nights. An ATP Masters 1000 final in Toronto tested their adaptability on medium bounce, while ATP 500 showdowns in Doha and Barcelona blended desert speed with European grip, each prompting tweaks in serve placement to exploit opponents’ backhands.
Semi-final surges at Masters 1000 events in Rome and Cincinnati further showcased their tactical depth, employing varied formations to counter elite pairs—stacking for serve protection one moment, then unleashing crosscourt poaches the next. These deep runs, as noted in ATP Tour reports, have accumulated points that secure their spot among qualifiers like Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic, plus Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten. With three places still open at Inalpi Arena, their season’s momentum carries the weight of near-misses turned into unbreakable resolve, the air thick with the scent of impending triumph.
Eyes on Turin’s redemption arc
As Turin beckons, the indoor hard courts promise a swift tempo that suits Salisbury’s championship pedigree, where every point under the lights amplifies the psychological stakes. Against fellow Brits Cash and Glasspool, they anticipate a rivalry laced with national pride, likely forcing aggressive 1–2 patterns to seize early control and disrupt familiar rhythms. The international field adds layers—Granollers-Zeballos’s endurance met with preemptive net rushes, Arevalo-Pavic’s lefty dynamics countered by inside-out forehands—each matchup a chance to channel past semi-final scars into fresh glory.
Heliovaara and Patten’s rising form injects uncertainty, but the duo’s season-long evolution positions them to navigate the round-robin’s intricacies, where crowd energy can swing momentum like a perfectly timed lob. This qualification isn’t just arrival; it’s a launch into Turin’s intensity, where British echoes grow louder and their shared horizon gleams with the possibility of etching new legends into the finals’ storied tapestry.
