NEAL SKUPSKI matched the great Fred Perry by winning a Wimbledon title for the third year in a row.
Scouser Skupski and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof beat Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos 6-4 6-4 to clinch the men’s doubles crown.
Neal Skupski has won another trophy after hitting glory in the Wimbledon Men’s Doubles finalRichard Pelham / The Sun
ReutersSkupski’s result saw him match the legendary Fred Perry[/caption]
Skupski won his latest trophy alongside Wesley KoolhofRichard Pelham / The Sun
The pair got a standing ovation from the Wimbledon crowdRichard Pelham / The Sun
The British right hander had lifted the mixed doubles trophies with America’s Desirae Krawczyk in 2021 and 2022.
Skupski, 33, is the first home player to claim a back-to-back hat-trick at Wimbledon since Dorothy Round added the 1937 women’s singles to mixed doubles titles in the previous two years .
No British man had done it since Perry won his third men’s singles in a row in 1936.
Skupski is also the first Brit to have won both mixed and men’s doubles crowns in SW19 since Leslie Godfree was victorious with wife Kitty in 1926, three years after he and Randolph Lycett were the winning male pair.
No 1 seeds Skupski and Koolhof produced the goods when it mattered in what threatened to be a tight match.
Koolhof saved the first break point of the match in the sixth game, with help from Hawk-Eye to confirm his serve was in.
In the following game, Granollers lost his nerve, double-faulting to hand his opponents the advantage.
But in the second set it was Zeballos who faltered.
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He and Granollers, the No 15 seeds, saved the first two break points from 0/40 down.
But they could not manage a third thanks to Koolhof’s deft volley.
The Spaniard and Argentinian hung in there, saving break points on the Granollers serve in the seventh game.
Appropriately, it fell to Skupski to serve the match out – and himself into the history books.
Skupski, whose brother and coach Ken was supporting him from his player’s box, said: “I grew up watching these amazing Championships on TV and started playing as a young boy with my dad at Palmerston Tennis Club in Liverpool, and later with my brother, who has been very influential in my career.
“The feeling at the moment doesn’t get better.
“Me and Wesley came together 18 months ago and one of our goals this year was to win a Grand Slam.
“Now we’ve done it and it feels very special.”
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