Koolhof/Skupski Cruise To Rome SFs

Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour

Is this the week Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski capture their first title of 2023?

The Dutch-British duo, who collected seven team titles last season, advanced to the semi-finals at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Wednesday after they downed Australians Jason Kubler and Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-4.

Koolhof and Skupski won 81 per cent of second-serve points, compared to Kubler and De Minaur’s 56 per cent, to set up a semi-final contest against Dutchmen Robin Haase and Botic van de Zandschulp.

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos also advanced to the last four Wednesday, when they survived Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 6-4, 5-7, 10-6. In the Match Tie-break, the Spaniard-Argentine pair jumped to an early 4/1 advantage to down the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals champions.

Earlier in the tournament, Granollers and Zeballos upset two-time defending champions Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.

Granollers and Zeballos, who won the Rome title in 2020, will next face Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski. The Spaniard Granollers also partnered countryman Marc Lopez to win at the Foro Italico in 2012.