Ken Skupski

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Ken Skupski
File:Ken Skupski WM13-001.JPG
Ken Skupski playing at Wimbledon 2013
Country (sports) United Kingdom Great Britain
England England
Residence Liverpool, England
Born (1983-04-09) 9 April 1983 (age 40)
Liverpool, England
Height Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value).
Turned pro 2001
Plays Left-handed (2-handed backhand)
Prize money $438,785
Singles
Career record 0–0
Career titles 0
0 Challengers, 1 Futures
Highest ranking No. 527 (23 June 2008)
Grand Slam Singles results
Wimbledon Q1 (2008)
Doubles
Career record 61–74 (ATP (World) Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles 3
Highest ranking No. 44 (12 July 2010)
Current ranking No. 92 (17 November 2014)
Grand Slam Doubles results
Australian Open 2R (2010)
French Open 2R (2010)
Wimbledon 2R (2010, 2012, 2013)
US Open 3R (2012)
Mixed doubles
Career record 3–3 (50% in ATP (World) Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches)
Career titles 0
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Wimbledon 3R (2012
Team competitions
Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II 1R(2010)
Last updated on: 22 November 2014.

Ken Skupski (born 9 April 1983) is an English professional tennis player who lives in Liverpool, England. He is best known as a doubles player, most successfully partnering Colin Fleming. Having played college tennis at the Louisiana State University, he turned professional in 2007. His breakthrough year was 2009, when he won his first two ATP tournaments and broke into the world's top 50 doubles players.

Early life

Ken Skupski was born in Liverpool but learned his trade in America at the Louisiana State University. He was an NCAA Doubles finalist 2005 and Two-time Southeastern Conference Coaches Indoor Champion (only player in the history of the Southeastern Conference to win back-to-back titles). He also won the fourth highest number of matches in the school's history with 107 wins. He was six-time All-American Champion (two Singles, one Doubles and three Academic).

Tennis career

2004

Eight years after he was crowned Wimbledon champion, Richard Krajicek took on Skupski in an exhibition match in Liverpool which was ‘exhibition’ in name only. Skupski tied a closely contested clash one set all, then won a Super TieBreak 10-7.[1] [2]

2008

Towards the end of the year, Skupski and Colin Fleming decided to commit to a period of playing together rather than the odd tournament. Skupski took a bit of a hit because his ranking was much higher than Fleming's and so he came to play some low-level Futures and they went on a great run.[3]

The pair came to be known as 'Flemski'.[4]

2009

In June 2009, Skupski and Colin Fleming beat the world no. 1 ranked doubles pair, Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan, at the Queen's Club grass court tournament. However he was out in the first round at Wimbledon for the second year in a row in five sets having led by two sets to love, again he partnered Fleming. He did however make into the second round of the mixed doubles losing in straight sets.

In September, the Davis Cup Captain John Lloyd announced that Skupski was part of the Great Britain Davis Cup squad for the Europe/Africa Zone Group 1 relegation playoff against Poland, Skupsi was acting as cover for any injuries and helping the team prepare for Poland's world top-10 ranked doubles team, but didn't play.[5] Great Britain lost 3-2, and were relegated to Group II of the Davis Cup.

In September 2009 he won at the Open de Moselle in France. Again partnering Fleming they won 2–6, 6–4, 10–5, against the defending champion, Arnaud Clément and Michaël Llodra. Two months later they won their second title at the St Petersburg Open, defeating another French team of Jérémy Chardy and Richard Gasquet in the final in three sets 2–6, 7–5, 10–4.

2010

In January 2010, Skupski competed at his first Grand Slam outside of Wimbledon at the Australian Open. Again partnering Fleming they made it into the second before losing in three sets to Michael Kohlmann and Jarkko Nieminen 6–3, 4–6, 3–6. At the French Open he repeated his feat at the Australian open by losing in at the second in three sets to fourth seeds Wesley Moodie and Dick Norman 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–7(4–7), again he partnered Fleming.

In June, Skupski reached the final of Eastbourne Open but lost in the final to Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in three sets partnering Colin Fleming. Following his successful run at the Eastbourne Open he finally got a win at Wimbledon in the first round, but again lost in the second to the much more experienced and second seeds the Bryan brothers in straight sets, he was partnering Fleming. For the first time in his career he competed at all four Grand Slams in the same year, but at the US Open, Skupski and Fleming lost in the first round in straight sets.

The new Davis Cup Captain Leon Smith selected Skupski to take part in Great Britain's vital Davis Cup tie vs Turkey, at Eastbourne, in July alongside Colin Fleming, James Ward, Jamie Baker, and Alex Ward. Defeat would have meant Great Britain's relegation to Europe Zone Group III, the lowest tier of the competition. Skupski and Colin Fleming secured the 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win that gave Britain an unassailable 3-0 lead, giving Great Britain a first Davis Cup win in three years.[6]

In October, Skupski and Colin Fleming decided to end their partnership after a poor run of results.[4] Their final tournament was St. Petersburg where they were beaten in the first round.

2011

In January at the Australian Open Skupski this time partnering Travis Parrott lost in the first round in straight sets. In February, Skupski partnered Robin Haase at the Marseille Open. They reached the final and won the title defeating Julien Benneteau and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6–3, 6–7(4–7), [13–11]. This was his first title in a year and a half. At the French Open, Skupski again lost in the first round in straight sets to his old partner Fleming 4–6, 4–6, this time he was partnering Igor Zelenay. At Wimbledon again he lost in the first round in straight sets, he was partnering Robin Haase, In Mixed Doubles, he partnered Elena Baltacha where they got to the second round but lost in straight sets to fifteenth seeds Andy Ram and Meghann Shaughnessy 4–6, 4–6.

2012

At the Australian Open in January, Skupski partnered Xavier Malisse where they lost in the first round in straight sets. This was Skupski's fifth first round exit in a row without taking a single set. In mid June, Skupski for the second time got to the final of Aegon International partnering Jamie Delgado, but lost to fellow Brits Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins 4–6, 3–6. This was his first final in over a year. At Wimbledon, Skupski finally broke his grand slam curse by making it into the second round for the first time in two years after winning a grilling five setter in the first round. But unfortunately for Skupski and new doubles partner Jamie Delgado they faced the heavy task of the Bryan bothers. They were unable to defeat them and they lost in straight sets 6–7(2–7), 0–6, 2–6. He also competed in the mixed doubles event partnering Melanie South. They made it into the third round but were defeated by third seeds Nenad Zimonjić and Katarina Srebotnik in three tough sets 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 7–9. A month after Wimbledon, Skupski and Delgado got into their second final of the season at the Farmers Classic. They lost in three sets to Belgium duo Ruben Bemelmans and Xavier Malisse 6–7(5–7), 6–4, [10–7]. At the US Open Skupski, with full-time partner Jamie Delgado made it to the third round before losing to Spanish sixth seeds Marcel Granollers and Marc López in straight sets 2–6, 4–6. In the second round they defeated the defending champions Jürgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner in straight sets.

2013

Although initially partnering with Delgado, Skupski increasingly played during 2013 with his brother Neal. Due to Neal's lower ranking, the pair played in a number of Futures and Challenger tournaments, winning six tournaments at the Challenger level. At the Kremlin Cup they entered their first ATP level tournament, reaching the final. At Grand Slam events, Skupski competed with some of his former partners, reaching the second round once again at Wimbledon, with Xavier Malisse.

2014

The Skupski brothers ranking as a partnership was not high enough to guarantee entry at the French Open, so they split to give themselves a better chance of qualifying. Ken partnered New Zealander Michael Venus, a fellow Louisiana State University alumni, while Neal teamed up with American Bradley Klahn, though they all lost in the first round.[7]

2015

In July, Neal Skupski was busy playing World Team tennis in the US, so Skupski partnered Divij Sharan, clinching the doubles title in the Euro 42,500 men’s Challenger tennis tournament, with a 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-6 victory over fourth seeds Ilija Bozoljac of Serbia and Flavio Cipolla of Italy, in Recanati, Italy.[8]

In September, the Skupskis won the St. Remy Challenger title in France, only playing two matches in the event due to opening round byes and a Semi-Final walkover. There were just 23 sets and three match breakers in the entire Doubles event. They were the top seeds and beat the second seeds Andrej Martin and Igor Zelenay in the Final, 6-4, 6-1.[9]

ATP career finals

Doubles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runners-up)

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (3–4)
Finals by Surface
Hard (3–2)
Clay (0–0)
Grass (0–2)
Carpet (0–0)
Outcome No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score in the final
Winner 1. 22 September 2009 Open de Moselle, Metz, France Hard (i) United Kingdom Colin Fleming France Arnaud Clément
France Michaël Llodra
2–6, 6–4, [10–5]
Winner 2. 1 November 2009 St. Petersburg Open, St. Petersburg, Russia Hard (i) United Kingdom Colin Fleming France Jérémy Chardy
France Richard Gasquet
2–6, 7–5, [10–4]
Runner-up 1. 19 June 2010 Aegon International, Eastbourne, Great Britain Grass United Kingdom Colin Fleming Poland Mariusz Fyrstenberg
Poland Marcin Matkowski
3–6, 7–5, [8–10]
Winner 3. 20 February 2011 Open 13, Marseille, France Hard (i) Netherlands Robin Haase France Julien Benneteau
France Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
6–3, 6–7(4–7), [13–11]
Runner-up 2. 22 June 2012 Aegon International, Eastbourne, Great Britain Grass United Kingdom Jamie Delgado United Kingdom Colin Fleming
United Kingdom Ross Hutchins
3–6, 4–6
Runner-up 3. 29 July 2012 Farmers Classic, Los Angeles, United States Hard United Kingdom Jamie Delgado Belgium Ruben Bemelmans
Belgium Xavier Malisse
6–7(5–7), 6–4, [7-10]
Runner-up 4. 19 October 2013 Kremlin Cup, Moscow, Russia Hard (i) United Kingdom Neal Skupski Russia Mikhail Elgin
Uzbekistan Denis Istomin
2–6, 6–1, [12–14]

Men's Doubles

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.

Tournament 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Career
Australian Open A A 2R 1R 1R 1R A 1–4
French Open A A 2R 1R A 1R 1R 1–4
Wimbledon 1R 1R 2R 1R 2R 2R 3–6
US Open A A A 1R 3R 1R 2–3
Grand Slam Win–Loss 0–1 0–1 3–3 0–4 3–3 1–4 0–1 7–17

Personal life

Skupski is a big fan of Liverpool Football Club and is a keen golfer who plays as often as he can and has a handicap of six. Ken has a younger brother, Neal, who also plays tennis.

References

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External links