London Hopes Murray/Skupski Book Vienna Final Spot
Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski advanced to their second final as a team on Friday at the Erste Bank Open.
The Western & Southern Open finalists (l. to Carreno Busta/De Minaur) broke serve on three occasions to defeat Robert Farah and Fabrice Martin 6-4, 6-4 in 77 minutes. Murray and Skupski are chasing their first team trophy in the Austrian capital.
The British standouts are also attempting to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time as a pair. Murray and Skupski entered the tournament in eighth position in the FedEx ATP Battle For London, with four qualification positions still available.
Murray and Skupski will face third seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo or two-time Roland Garros champions Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies for the trophy. Krawietz and Mies will compete at The O2 in London for the second straight year from 15-22 November.
McLachlan/Skugor Earn Nur-Sultan Quarter-final Win
Ben McLachlan and Franko Skugor reached their second ATP Tour semi-final of the year together at the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.
The fourth seeds won 72 per cent of their second-serve return points (13/18) to overcome Sander Arends and Artem Sitak 6-3, 7-6(4). McLachlan and Skugor will face London contenders Max Purcell and Luke Saville in the semi-finals.
Marcelo Arevalo and Tomislav Brkic also advanced at the ATP 250 with a 7-6(4), 3-6, 11-9 victory against third seeds Marcus Daniell and Philipp Oswald. The unseeded pair overcame the Sardinia champions in one hour and 35 minutes to book a semi-final clash against top seeds Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.