A change of surface and partner got Ken back to winning ways in Mons this week. After a few frustrating weeks on the clay he teamed up with the Swedish player Johan Brunstrom to win the Ethias Trophy which was played on indoor hard courts.

In the final they defeated the French pairing Kenny De Schepper Edouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6 6-3. This was Ken’s 4th title of the year and with those 125 ranking points should find himself back in the top 90.  Next week he plays the Rennes Challenger.

Ken put a couple of frustrating months behind him by teaming up with Freddie Nielson of Denmark to win the Recanati challenger. They didn’t drop a set all week and this continued in final beating Gaio / Raja 6-4 7-6. This was Ken and Freddie’s second success together having previously won in Bergamo earlier this year.

The win will put Ken back in the top 100 and he moves on to Segovia, Spain where he will team up with Karol Beck.

Ken’s younger brother Neal won the Men’s Doubles at the ITF Futures Tournament in Dublin, Ireland.

The 21 year old from Liverpool teamed with Albano Olivetti of France to win the $15,000 tournament, which took place at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club.

The unseeded pair battled their way through the draw, defeating French top seeds Julien Maes and Fabrice Martin in the semi-finals, to set up a final against local players James Cluskey and James McGee. Skupski and Olivetti fought hard in the first set and took it 7-4 against the Irish second seeds.  They then went on to win the next set and took the match 7-6, 6-3 to be crowned doubles champions.