Doubles Champions: Glasspool and Cash take Beijing

Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash came to Beijing with work to do.

Consider one huge assignment complete.

The British duo defeated the all-Dutch team of Sander Arends and David Pel, 6-3, 3-6 [10-6] to win the China Open doubles title. Glasspool and Cash are the first all-British pairing to win in Beijing and with that milestone, they took another step toward qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.

“I think it’s kind of the thing in your mind at the start of every season,” Cash said. “It’s definitely in the forefront of our minds, and we’re going to push till the end to try and make it there.”

Currently, they are 310 points shy of the ninth-ranked team and only 340 points away from putting themselves in the eighth spot. 

“We know we have the level,” Cash said. “We both have the belief that, yeah, realistically we’re only a week or two away from qualifying.”

With the win, they added another piece to an already impressive 2026 campaign. Glasspool and Cash became the first doubles team to win three ATP 500 events this season, following their titles in Washington and Barcelona with their biggest victory yet in Beijing.

The title marks the 11th of their three-year partnership, a run that has produced trophies at some of the sport’s biggest events.

“We’re obviously very happy with the week,” Glasspool said. “We came here knowing we had to do a job, and we’ve done it.”

The work, however, is not quite finished.

For now, though, they have a trophy to take home.

“You just find a place to put them in your house, most likely not on show,” Glasspool said of his growing collection. “Then once the career is done, I think you look back and think, wow, this is pretty cool. Something to show the kids, the grandkids.”

Glasspool and Cash did not lose a set en route to the China Open final. They defeated Khachanov/Rublev in the first round, Melo/Zverev in the quarterfinals and Cash/Erler in the semifinals. 

The duo dropped their first set of the tournament in the final but closed out the win with a strong match-tiebreak. 

“We snuck a break early, which always helps, especially in a final, kind of settle the nerves,” Cash said. “They were playing a high level throughout the first set. I think we kind of stuck to our tactics and were able to get across the line.”

By Isabel Kirkwood