“We truly believed this was possible”: British pair secure year-end No. 1 in Turin

While the ATP Finals singles draw is being disputed, the doubles draw has determined that the Brit Lloyd Glasspool has secured the Year-End ATP No. 1 in the doubles ranking, amidst his campaign in Turin alongside his partner Julian Cash—also British and currently ranked No. 2.

While Glasspool started the year barely at No. 23, Cash was only at No. 37, but their season has catapulted them as the best doubles pair of the year. The ATP Finals featured Cash/Glasspool as the first seed pair, with both arriving as the ranking leaders after a notable year.

They had a tough start in the draw, falling to the 7th seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori in their debut 5-7, 3-6. The Brits recovered to win the second match against Tim Puetz and Kevin Krawietz, keeping their hopes alive. They still needed one last victory to ensure finishing the year at No. 1, but the defeat of Granollers/Zeballos to the Italian pair ultimately guaranteed Glasspool the Year-End No. 1 ranking.

“It’s been one crazy year, that’s for sure,” Glasspool said during the awards ceremony as the No. 1 pair. “We put an awful lot of work in during the offseason. We couldn’t have done it without everyone there in the box, also my family up there. It takes a lot of people to get to this spot.”

“We’ve ticked off so many things this year and I think we both truly believed at the start of the year that this was possible for us and to be standing here now is very surreal,” Cash also mentioned.

The British pair has spent 13 weeks leading the ATP rankings since they won the Canadian Open title. Since then, Glasspool has been ranked No. 1 and Julian Cash No. 2 by a slight difference of 90 points. Glasspool thus became the 66th doubles player to reach World No. 1 in the category: the 4th British player to achieve that spot, following his compatriots Neal Skupski, Joe Salisbury, and Jamie Murray. Among them, only Skupski had finished a year at the top, back in 2022, tied with his partner Wesley Koolhof.

Among the achievements of Glasspool and Cash are 7 titles this season, with Wimbledon being the most important of the year, defeating Rinky Hijikata and David Pel in the final. They secured a title at the Masters 1000 in Toronto, in addition to reaching the finals in Miami, Monte-Carlo, and Paris. Their consistency this year puts them above the Zeballos/Granollers pair, champions of Roland Garros and the US Open, who have not maintained the same consistency in smaller tournaments.

During the awards ceremony, 31-year-old Lloyd Glasspool also spoke. He had previously played the ATP Finals back in 2022 alongside Finland's Harri Heliovaara, falling in the semi-finals to the Croatians Mektic/Pavic. The 31-year-old highlighted his work teams as key to having taken them from outside the Top 20 to the top of the rankings. “We wouldn’t be here without our box and our team. They’ve supported us for many, many years. It’s been an incredible year. Credit to ourselves as well. I think we’ve worked very hard. We’ve pushed each other massively.”

The British pair will define their qualification precisely against the third seeds Zeballos and Granollers—the former No. 1s who lost their chance to reclaim the top spot. The winner of the match will advance to the semi-finals, where Bolelli/Vavassori (7th) and Salisbury/Skupski (5th) have already qualified—the latter being another all-Briton pair, who could be rivals for the No. 1s if they secure the win in the third Round Robin match.