Patten and Skupski win doubles to send Great Britain into Davis Cup Final 8

Henry Patten and Neal Skupski defeated Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo 6-3, 6-4 at the Copper Box on Saturday to clinch Great Britain’s Davis Cup qualifier against Ecuador and secure a 3-0 victory in the tie.

Great Britain captain Leon Smith enjoyed an encouraging opening day after his singles players “did their jobs”, with Arthur Fery, the British No 1, and the No 5 Toby Samuel each overcoming tense starts before settling to straight-set wins. Patten, the world No 1, and Skupski, the US Open champion a week ago, were paired together for only their second match as partners rather than rivals when they took the court for the doubles decider.

Smith had warned that the fast indoor surface inside the Copper Box would likely produce few breaks, and the pair answered immediately by breaking in the opening return game. Patten and Skupski combined three lob winners to secure that break, including a backhand lob from Skupski on break point, and thereafter protected their service games.

The British duo did not offer a single break point on their serves and converted a late opportunity in the second set as the Ecuadorians became tense. Skupski produced the decisive break with a forehand return winner, after which Patten held serve to finish the match 6-3, 6-4.

Ecuador’s pairing, however, were experienced doubles specialists ranked just inside the top 100 and had delivered a shock victory over Australia in February, underscoring the significance of the British win. The match took place in a sold-out arena with a 5,000 capacity.

Elsewhere across the weekend, the United States, led by US Open finalist Ben Shelton, were beaten 3-2 by the Czech Republic, while France lost to Canada in front of 10,000 Québecois fans led by Félix Auger-Aliassime. The British success in London also came despite the absence of two of their leading singles names: Jack Draper has been out with injury for an extended period and Cameron Norrie withdrew at the last minute due to injury and could only cheer from the sidelines.

Great Britain’s 3-0 win sends them into the Davis Cup Final 8, and they will compete in the Finals in Bologna between 24 and 29 November. This result returns Britain to the last eight of the competition.