'It's very difficult for me to pass up': Liverpool fanatic Neal Skupski is forced to give up his Champions League final ticket due to the French Open scheduling, but insists he will watch his side's date with destiny from his hotel room 

• Neal Skupski had been offered a ticket to the showdown at the Stade de France
• Skupski, who is from Liverpool, was forced to turn it down due to scheduling 
• Other results in Paris means he faces a busy weekend on court at Roland Garros 

Liverpool fanatic Neal Skupski finds himself in the right place but is having to give up his Champions League final ticket due to the scheduling at the French Open.

Skupski, the scouser who is one half of tennis’s leading doubles team this year, was desperate to make the nine-mile journey to the Stade de France on Saturday night but has reluctantly decided against it.

Other results mean that he faces a busy weekend on court which will preclude him from going.

‘I’m now definitely going to be playing on Sunday, so I’m not going to take the chance,’ said Skupski, who might also play in Saturday’s mixed doubles if he was to win in that competition on Friday evening.

‘I’m going to be watching the match in the hotel room, I wouldn’t want to take the ticket away from some other Liverpudlian. It’s through a contact and then they contacted Liverpool so I’ve had to make a decision to pass on it.

‘It’s very difficult for me to pass up on this opportunity. If I wasn’t here, for sure I would have gone. Maybe I could have asked the ATP if it was possible to not play on Saturday evening but I am going to have a match either way.’

Skupski and Dutch partner are leading the men’s doubles standings based on this year’s results and have already won four titles in 2022. The two of them are into the third round, which means on Sunday are due to play Americans Mackenzie McDonald and Tommy Paul.