ATP Tour

Salisbury continues imperious Nitto ATP Finals record, teams with Skupski for opening win

Joe Salisbury continued his standout record at the Nitto ATP Finals on Monday in Turin, where he teamed with Neal Skupski to overcome Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic 6-3, 7-5 in the John McEnroe group.

Salisbury lifted the prestigious year-end trophy in 2022 and 2023 with Rajeev Ram and has now won his past 11 matches at the event, having not qualified last year. Playing with Skupski in Turin for the first time, the British pair saved all seven break points they faced. The key moment came in the second set at 5-5, 40/40 when the umpire called a foot fault on Pavic, who hit a costly double fault on the deciding point of the game.

The fifth seeds closed out on serve and now lead Arevalo and Pavic 3-1 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry after also claiming victories in Toronto and Cincinnati this year. Salisbury and Skupski are 1-0 in the John McEnroe group and will also face Harri Heliovaara and Henry Patten and Christian Harrison and Evan King this week.

Salisbury and Skuspki teamed on a full-time basis at the start of this season and are 43-21 on the year, according to the ATP Infosys Win/Loss Index. They reached major finals at Roland Garros and the US Open and title matches in Toronto, Barcelona and Doha in 2025. While Salisbury is a two-time champion in Turin, Skupski’s best result at the year-end event was a semi-final run in 2022 with Wesley Koolhof.

Arevalo and Pavic have won ATP Masters 1000 crowns together in Indian Wells, Miami and Rome this year. Last season, they reached the final in Turin, falling to Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.