From lsusports.net

Former LSU tennis player Ken Skupski and doubles partner Colin Fleming fell in straight sets to Bob and Mike Bryan, the No. 2 doubles team in the world, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in the second round of the Wimbledon Championships on Monday at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

After dropping the first set 6-2, the United Kingdom duo fought hard in the second set to get back in the match. Both teams held serve until the tenth game, but the Bryans broke serve to take the set 6-4 and grab a two sets to love lead.

Skupski and Fleming had a chance to extend the match, forcing a third set tiebreaker after holding serve throughout the set. In the tiebreaker, the Bryans proved to be too much, taking the set 7-6 (5) to clinch the match.

This year marked the third straight Wimbledon appearance for Skupski, who is currently ranked a career-high No. 45 in the ATP individual doubles rankings.

“Ken is reaching an all time high in the rankings and he is on a real upward trend,” said LSU head coach Jeff Brown. “This is a real exciting time for him going forward and a great experience that he can build on.”

The international ranking is the highest ever for a former LSU player. The record was previously held by Brown, who was ranked 47th in March 1991.

Skupski and Fleming have advanced to the second round in their last three Grand Slam appearances, including the French Open and the Australian Open earlier this year.

Skupski also participated in the mixed doubles draw of the Wimbledon Championships with Elena Baltacha. The pair defeated their first-round opponents, Michal Mertinak of Slovakia and Andrea Hlavackova of the Czech Republic, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 on Saturday to advance to the second round on Monday against Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

Skupski and Baltacha got off to a great start, winning the first set 6-4, but they couldn’t hold the momentum as Knowles and Srebotnik took the next two sets 6-2, 6-3 to win the match.

At LSU Skupski excelled in both singles and doubles to leave as one of the most decorated players in the history of the program. The former three-time All-American is fourth in career wins with 104 and also recorded the most doubles victories in a season at 34 with partner Mark Growcott in 2005.

Ken and Colin won their first ever match at Wimbledon by defeating Arnaud Clement and Nicholas Mahut of France in four tight sets.

Flemski had taken the first set on Thursday night had to wait until Saturday lunchtime to complete their match against their French opponents. The resumption couldn’t have gone better for the British pairing as they immediately broke Mahut’s serve and then served brilliantly to clinch the second set.

The 3rd set remained tight but the returning skills of Arnaud Clement proved the difference as the French pair broke Colin’s serve and went on to close out the set.

It looked like we were going to a 5th set when Ken dropped serve early in the 4th but the lads battled back brilliantly to break Clement and take the set into a tiebreak which they won 7-4.

Flemski next play the Bryan brothers on Monday.

From LTA.org.uk

Colin Fleming & Ken Skupski have finished as runners-up in the men’s doubles at the AEGON International at Devonshire Park, Eastbourne.

The British No.’s 1 & 2, “Flemski”, lost out in a very tight final against the No. 2 seeds from Poland, Fyrstenberg & Matkowski, going down 6-4, 5-7, 10-8.

“It was one match away from a perfect week,” said Ken Skupski afterwards. Colin Fleming agreed, adding, “It was a tight match, they didn’t give us much rhythm.”

The British duo came from a set down to break their opponents in the second set and win it 7-5 to take the final into a deciding set match tie-break.

In the decider the Poles took an early lead to go 5-1 up but the British came back into it. However the Poles then re-extended their lead to set up three match points leading 9-6.

Flemski pulled back two points on their serve for 8-9 but were then denied when a strong serve from Fyrstenberg meant they had taken the match and the title after one hour and 19 minutes.

At the end of the match, after 134 points had been played, the Poles had only won 4 more than the British combination.

Fleming continued, “We’ve had three good weeks and we’ve got a tough draw at Wimbledon. We’re also ready to do our bit in the Davis Cup if we get picked.”

If selected, the pair will be back on the grass courts of Eastbourne, straight after Wimbledon finishes as AEGON Team GB take on Turkey at Devonshire Park from the 9th-11th July.

The British players will be hoping for good home support and tickets are still available for the event.