Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski showed their mettle on their Nitto ATP Finals team debut on Monday in Turin, where the top seeds withstood a big-serving barrage from Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis to clinch an opening 6-7(3), 6-4, 10-5 in Green Group.
Kokkinakis and Kyrgios fired 24 aces in their first tour-level meeting with Koolhof and Skupski and looked well-placed to kick off their own maiden campaign at the season finale with victory after powering through the first-set tie-break.
The Dutch-British duo stayed patient, however, securing a crucial break in the seventh game of the second set before dominating the Match Tie-break for a 91-minute win.
Koolhof and Skupski have enjoyed a stellar first year together on the ATP Tour in 2022. The Dutch-British pair has won seven tour-level titles and secured the year-end No. 1 spot in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings en route to lifting the Rolex Paris Masters trophy a week ago.
Koolhof has enjoyed success at the year-end championships before. Two years ago, the Dutchman triumphed at the Nitto ATP Finals alongside Croatian Nikola Mektic.