Skupski/Venus advance in Queen's, Sinner/Hurkacz win in Halle

Neal Skupski and Michael Venus got their cinch Championships campaign underway on Wednesday in London when they defeated singles stars Ugo Humbert and Ben Shelton 6-4, 6-3.

The seventh seeds were aggressive throughout the 69-minute clash on the lawns in west London, striking deep returns and closing the net sharply to reach the second round. Skupski and Venus are teaming for the second time this season and next play Alex de Minaur and Sebastian Korda or second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury.

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Other singles teams to fall in London included Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie and Sebastian Baez and Adrian Mannarino. Sixth seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin beat Draper and Norrie 6-4, 6-4, while fifth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic downed Baez and Mannarino 4-6, 6-3, 10-3.

Mektic and Koolhof arrive in London in good form, having advanced to the final on grass in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Top seeds Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden also advanced to the second round, defeating Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler 6-4, 6-4. Ebden and Bopanna have won tour-level titles together at the Australian Open and in Miami this season.

The ATP Doubles trial, which was first held at the Mutua Madrid Open, is taking place at the Queen’s Club. Some of the changes include less time between points, adjustments to time allowances during changeovers and the use of “time extensions”.

Hurkacz/Sinner advance in Halle
Singles stars Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner earned victory in their first match of the season together at the Terra Wortmann Open, where they beat third seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow 6-4, 5-7, 11-9.

The Pole-Italian team saved two match points in the Match Tie-break to seal victory after 82 minutes. Sinner is the top seed in the singles draw and is competing as No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time.

Top seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori beat Pedro Martinez and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-3, 6-3. Bolelli and Vavassori reached the final at the ATP 500 grass-court event last season.

Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul defeated Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 7-6(4), 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals, while Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens eliminated Yuki Bhambri and Albano Olivetti 5-7, 7-6(12), 10-7. The Germans saved two match points in the second set.

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