Skupski backed to make more history at Wimbledon
The Liverpool-born player is bidding to win the doubles for the second year running
Liverpool's Neal Skupski is aiming to make history - as his Wimbledon campaign gets underway.
He won the doubles last year with Wesley Koolhof - and will try to be just the second Brit since Fred Perry in 1936 to defend a Wimbledon title.
This year, he's partnering Michael Venus - they warmed up for Wimbledon by winning at Queen's and Eastbourne.
They start this year's Wimbledon campaign today against Austrian pair Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler.
David Hardman from the Liverpool Tennis Centre said:
"He's been in finals, he's obviously won it, it just shows the consistency he's got so it would be great to show that some more by lifting it two years in a row.
"I think he has a (chance) in the doubles. A nice solid team, he's one of if not the best doubles players in the world, so you'd be silly to write him off.
"We'd be looking at him making a final and winning it again."
Skupski has been a Wimbledon champion for the last three years - having also won the 2021 and 2022 Wimbledon Championships in mixed doubles alongside Desirae Krawczy.
He grew up training at Palmerston Tennis Club, which he credits for setting himself apart from his peers.
David added:
"As a city we've got tons of footballers that we have kids to look up to. It's great for us as a sport to have a local lad whose done exceptionally well in the sport the kids are undertaking and a lot of our kids now have Neal's career progression in mind.
"In the next year or two, we've got a couple of kids who will be leaving to follow in Neal's footsteps by going to university on a tennis scholarship so already you can see that people are following in his pathway with the hope of emulating some of the work he's already done himself."