French pair stun second seeds in Madrid
Hope
Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski secured a first win in three matches on Monday, defeating Robert Cash and JJ Tracy 6-3, 3-6, 10-7 to reach the second round of the Mutua Madrid Open doubles event.
The fourth seeds had not recorded a victory since their second-round success in Miami last month. The French pair, who are reigning Australian Open champions in doubles, showed composure in the match tie-break to progress at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid.
Harrison and Skupski are set to face Andre Goransson and Evan King in the next round
In other first-round results, Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul defeated second seeds Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool 6-3, 6-3. The French duo saved both break points they faced during the match, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Elsewhere, Romain Arneodo and Valentin Vacherot caused a major upset by eliminating top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos. The Monegasque pair recovered from a slow start to win 2-6, 6-1, 10-6 in their opening match on Sunday.
Third seeds Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten also advanced after overcoming Alejandro Tabilo and Learner Tien 7-5, 7-5.
Heliovaara and Patten currently sit second in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Team Rankings and are targeting a return to the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, where they reportedly won the title in 2025.
