Ken Skupski

Eight years after he was crowned Wimbledon champion, Richard Krajicek took on Skupski in an exhibition match in Liverpool. Skupski tied a closely contested clash one set all, then won a Super TieBreak 10–7.[2] [3]

Skupski was looking for a fellow British doubles partner who was capable of going to the top of the game. Colin Fleming had turned pro in September and Skupski thought Fleming's game style suited his. Skupski took a bit of a hit because his ranking 250 was much higher than Fleming's at around 900, and so they came to play some low-level Futures and went on a great run. The pair came to be known as 'Flemski'.[4]

Fleming/Skupski won three Futures in Glasgow, London, Sunderland[5] [6] [7] and the Caversham International Challenger in Jersey. [8]

Ken Skupski finished the year there because he'd had a long year, but Fleming continued by partnering Jonny Marray in the Czech Republic and winning two Futures in Frydland Nad Ostravici,[9] and Opava[10]

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 play-off 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.[11] 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.

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, ending a run of five straight defeats, giving Great Britain a first Davis Cup win in three years.[12][13]

In October, at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, England's Skupski and Ross Hutchins won the Doubles Silver Medal, by losing to Australians Paul Hanley and Peter Luczak in the final.[14] A few days later, Skupski and Ross Hutchins were opponents in the Mixed Doubles, Skupski and Sarah Borwell beating Ross Hutchins and Anna Smith to win the Bronze Medal. Skupski and Borwell who had never played together ahead of the Indian event were brought together by their shared coach, Louis Cayer. [15]

Following the Commonwealth Games, 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.

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.

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 brothers. 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.

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.

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.[16]

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.[17]

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.