Britain’s Joe Salisbury is planning to wear a black bandage to the men’s doubles final at the US Open on Friday as a mark of respect following the death of the Queen.
Salisbury and American teammate Rajeev Ram are bidding for the title for the second year in a row and when the news was announced they were playing their semi-finals against Colombia’s Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.
Asked if he would wear a black armband, Salisbury, London, said: “Yeah, I think we probably should.
“I saw it when we came out of court. Obviously this is very sad news, a bit shocking as well. It seems quite sudden. She has clearly been the queen of everyone’s whole life. Obviously we would like to do something during tomorrow’s match.
For the second year in a row in New York, the final will have a British player on both sides of the net when Neil Skupski reached his first Grand Slam showpiece in men’s doubles with Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof.
He continued his stellar season by beating El Salvador’s third seed Marcelo Arevalo and Dutch player Jean-Julien Roger 6-4, 7-5 and the world number one ranking, currently held by Salisbury, also line up on Friday. will be in
Salisbury and the Rams’ match was a nail-biter, with the defending champions winning a decisive tie-break, winning 7-5 4-6 7-6 (6) to secure a third Grand Slam title together .
New York, and especially the area of Queens where Flushing Meadows sits, has a large South American population and Colombian fans were out to cheer Cabal and Farah.
Louis Armstrong Stadium was not full, but there was a lot of noise, which at times bothered Salisbury and the Rams, especially as Cabal tried his best to whip up his supporters.
Salisbury and Ram looked in big trouble when the former pushed a forehand volley to drop serve 5-5 in the deciding set, but they made amends with two excellent lobs to break straight back.
The tie-break was close but Salisbury and the Rams were rock solid, holding onto an early advantage to reach their first Grand Slam final of the season and extend their winning run to 11 matches in New York.
Salisbury said: “It was so epic. Lots of ups and downs. We’re so happy with how we got there. Really happy to be in the finals.
“I think we were hoping they might have more support, we knew there would be a lot of Colombians, but I think that was more than what we were expecting.
“It was like a Davis Cup match, a football match. Obviously it can be a bit disturbing and frustrating at times but it was a fun atmosphere to play in.