Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski set for US Open doubles final showdown

Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski set for a British battle in the US Open men’s doubles finals as both seal their spot in the showdown… with the winner set to earn the World No. 1 spot too

• Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram won 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 on Thursday in their semifinal
• They beat Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the tight match
• It’s the second successive year that the duo have made the US Open final 
• Shortly after, Neal Skupski and Wesley Koolhof won 6-4, 7-5 for their own victory
• Full coverage: Click here to see all our coverage of the Queen’s passing

Britain’s Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski face a shootout for the world No. 1 spot on Friday when they meet in the final of the US Open doubles.

Salisbury currently owns that position, but will be overtaken if he and partner Rajeev Ram lose to Liverpool’s Skupski and Dutch team-mate Wesley Koolhof.

Defending champions Salisbury and Ram made it through by the tightest of margins, overcoming Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-5 4-6 7-6, clinching the deciding tiebreak 10-6.

Joe Salisbury (right) and Rajeev Ram have reached the Open final for the second year running

Neal Skupski (right) and his partner Wesley Koolhof have also booked their spot on Friday

After a match that continued through the announcement of the Queen’s passing, Skupski took to the court, with him and Koolhof overcoming Marcelo Arevalo and Jean Julien Rojer 6-4 7-5.

Skupski and Salisbury are due to team up for next week’s qualifying group for the Davis Cup finals, taking place in Glasgow.

While there are still discussions going on the early indications are that the event – involving GB, USA, Kazakhstan and Holland – will go ahead.

Salisbury won both the mixed and men’s doubles at Flushing Meadows twelve months ago, a brace which was somewhat overshadowed by Raducanu’s incredible triumph in the singles.

He has not made a Grand Slam final since, and his hold on the world No. 1 ranking has become tenuous.

 Juan Sebastian Cabal (left) and Robert Farah pushed Salisbury and Ram to the brink

Emma Raducanu lost in the first round of the US Open this year to Alize Cornet

That seemed under threat on Thursday night at times from the feisty Colombians, who had their usual vocal group of supporters that have a habit of winding up those facing Cabal and Farah.

Late in the first set Salisbury approached the umpire to ask for them not to call out during points. The Anglo-American duo also needed to break back at 5-6 to send the match into a sudden death champions’ tiebreak.

Salisbury found about the Queen immediately after the match: ‘I saw the news when I came off the court. It’s sad and a bit shocking, she has been Queen for pretty much everyone’s whole life. It’s very sad so we would definitely like to do something to mark it tomorrow.

‘I think us against Neal and Wesley will be a fitting final. He’s a good mate and they have been playing very well all season, they certainly seem to gel well together.’

Carlos Alcaraz and Frances Tiafoe will play on Friday as they try and take their place in what could be a watershed men’s final on Sunday.

Tiafoe will attempt to become the first American to make the championship match in sixteen years. The 19 year-old Spaniard is closing in on his apparent destiny as a Grand Slam winner.

Francis Tiafoe and Carlos Alcaraz will vie for a spot in the finals on Thursday night

No. 22 seed Tiafoe – who would be the first black American male to reach the final since Arthur Ashe 50 years ago – will surely have an advantage due to the controversial scheduling.

Alcaraz did not finish a quarter final of outstanding quality against Italian Jannik Sinner until 2.50am Thursday morning, the latest finish ever at Flushing Meadows.

Tiafoe had finished late afternoon on Wednesday, and was long asleep by the time the teenager wrapped up a five hour, fifteen minute victory 6-3 in a deciding set against Sinner. His previous round had finished at 2.24am, and there must surely be a price to pay for that.

Alcaraz was more upbeat immediately afterwards, saying: ‘The energy I received in this court at 3 a.m, it was unbelievable. Probably in other tournaments, other places, everybody went to their house to rest, but they keep in the court, supporting me. At the end it was really tough.’

It has been a tournament of ludicrously late finishes, with the night session start at 7pm clearly over-ambitious.

Skupski and Koolhof’s victory came against Jean-Julien Rojer (left) and Marcelo Arevalo (right)

At a time when tennis is waving farewell to some of its biggest drawcards, it is perverse that two of its brightest young talents get to play in a Grand Slam at a time when nobody beyond the hardcore fan will be watching, either in most US time zones or the whole of Europe.

The earlier semi-final will feature Russia’s Karen Khachanov against Norway’s Casper Ruud, with the former playing his first semi-final at this level. Both Ruud and Alcaraz can ascend to world number one if they win the title.

The women’s last four matches, featuring Ons Jabeur against Caroline Garcia, and Aryna Sabalenka versus Iga Swiatek, were due to take place on Thursday night, with a minute’s silence scheduled beforehand.

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