Skupski/Venus save 2 MPs to win Eastbourne crown

Neal Skupski and Michael Venus captured their second consecutive title Friday when they saved two championship points to triumph at the Rothesay International.

The fourth seeds, who last week were crowned champions at Queen’s, extended their winning streak to eight by overcoming third seeds Matthew Ebden and John Peers 4-6, 7-6(2), 11-9. Ebden and Peers served for the title at 5-4 in the second set and were one point from victory when they lost a deciding point.

“It was very up and down match, very tricky decisions,” Skupski said. “Them boys played great for nearly all the match. Mike kind of took over at 4-5 down [in the second set], hit some amazing shots. He gave me belief, we stuck around and that is doubles really, it is fine margins. It is great to come away with a win like that, it gives us confidence.”

Skupski and Venus saved another match point at 8/9 in the Match Tie-break, tallying three consecutive points to win the Eastbourne crown after one hour, 45 minutes. The British-Kiwi duo fended off 11 of 13 break points faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

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Cash/Galloway reach second grass final of season in Mallorca
Julian Cash and Robert Galloway advanced to their second final of the grass swing at the Mallorca Championships presented by Waterdrop. The British-American duo outlasted Germans Constantin Frantzen and Hendrik Jebens 6-7(3), 6-3, 10-8.

Finalists in Stuttgart, Cash and Galloway are aiming to go one step further to claim their second team title, having won Delray Beach in February. They also triumphed at the grass-court ATP Challenger Tour 125 event in Surbiton. Cash and Galloway will face Diego Hidalgo and Alejandro Tabilo in Saturday’s final. The Chilean Tabilo is also in the Mallorca singles final.

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