The beginning of the year is more than just the start of the season for some doubles players. It is a pivotal moment for the debut of new partnerships.
One of the key new teams in 2026 is Christian Harrison and Neal Skupski, both of whom competed in the 2025 Nitto ATP Finals with different partners — Harrison with Evan King and Skupski with Joe Salisbury.
“Really happy with how things are progressing with Christian,” Skupski said. “Christian came to Baton Rouge for a week’s training in the offseason, so that was the first step of getting to know each other a bit better on the tennis court, work on a few things together and just to make sure it wasn’t out of the blue when we came together in Australia.”
The partners decided to play United Cup, which allowed them to train together in Perth despite competing for different countries.
“That was another great week of practice together. Adelaide was good, we got three matches in against good teams and then we’ve come here with confidence,” Skupski said. “I think we’re playing well. I think there are definitely areas to improve on, but it’s a Grand Slam. It’s too late to work on these things right now.
“We’re just going to go with the flow, which seems to be working at the moment. We know each other’s strengths, so we’re trying to use them. But very happy with the first two rounds.”
Harrison and Skupski made the Adelaide semi-finals in their first tournament together, only falling short to 2024 Nitto ATP Finals champions Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz. The sixth seeds are through two rounds at the Australian Open and will play Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp for a place in the quarter-finals.
“It’s nice that we’ve been able to start out on the right foot. We put in a lot of practice time — as much as we could — considering we weren’t going to spend a lot of time with each other until we got to the tournaments,” Harrison said. “But it’s nice that we’ve been able to work through and figure out how our games are going to match up together.”
Skupski explained that he and Harrison are still “learning on the job” and focusing on communicating well throughout and after matches. They have been “very open” with one another to help expedite the process of growing as a team.
“It’s something that I’m very excited about this year,” Skupski said. “I think we can do a good job and we can be successful. It’s the start of something hopefully over a long period of time. Looking forward to a long success with Christian.
Harrison said: “There are always nerves early on with a new partnership like that because you know both of you are accomplished and you just want to find the best way to make your team work as efficiently as it can.
“We’ve known each other for a long time, and look to build a good playing, off-court relationship together and just enjoy playing the tennis and the matches.”
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