ATP Finals: British player Henry Patten wins double glory after getting engaged in Turin

If this proves to be Salisbury and Skupski’s final match, as is expected, then their year-long partnership will end with a familiar sense of disappointment in an important final, having also seen them beaten in title battles at Roland Garros and the US Open.

Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers defeated them in Grand Slam finals and Wimbledon quarterfinals.

“We’ve been through some good times and we’ve been through some tough times,” Salisbury said after their latest loss on the big stage.

This time, the British pair faced the team they defeated in the round-robin stage, but they were worried about the absence of Patten and 36-year-old Heliovara at the time and expected a greater test in the finals.

This is the result.

After the first 11 service games, Patten’s powerful hitting and Salisbury’s double fault pushed Heliovara and Patten to close to the first set, until Skupski’s volley found the back of the net to seal the victory.

The decisive break of the second set came in the sixth game when Skupski’s serve was broken and Heliovara’s forehand on the break point was too hot to get back into the match.

Salisbury was a two-time winner of the event with American Rajeev Ram, but these were not his and Skupski’s days.

Patten said at the start of the week that his involvement was “much more important” than the results on the pitch, but he got to experience the best of both worlds.

Patten hit back-to-back aces to seal the title, and then he drew a diamond ring and a heart on the courtside TV cameras, ending a perfect week.