Clifford Skakle

Clifford "Cliff" Skakle (born October 26, 1956) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Skakle was born in Buxton, North Carolina to Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Hall of Fame Coach Don Skakle  and Sybil Skakle. When Cliff reached the age of 2, the family moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where Don Skakle had a Hall of Fame career as head coach of the men's tennis team at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (UNC).

Prior to turning professional, Skakle played tennis for UNC, where he was the All-ACC Individual Flight Champion from 1974–1978. During that same period, the UNC men's team won the ACC team championship every year. He completed his collegiate career with a singles record of 77–18 and doubles record of 96–9. Skakle's father Don was his coach for the entirety of his career.

Career

Skakle turned pro in 1978, joining the ATP world tour. He played professionally for a year until he suffered an injury to his Achilles tendon in Strasbourg, France. He returned to the tour in March of 1980, for an ATP event in Costa Rica, featuring a first round match up against the #1 player in the world, Jimmy Connors. Connors defeated Skakle 6-1, 6-2. Skakle competed for Country Club Aixois Aix-en-Provence in French InterClub in 1980 and 1981. Skakle's career featured notable matches against Jimmy Connors and Eliot Teltscher; and in doubles against Stan Smith/Bob Lutz at Wimbledon. Significant singles wins came against Ken Flach, Peter Doohan and Mike Cahill and in doubles against Danie Visser and Ken Flach. In 1981, Skakle competed at Roland Garros (The French Open), Wimbledon, won the Dutch ITF pro circuit in Singles & Doubles (Alejandro Cortes), reached the quarter-finals in doubles at the Brussel's tournament, and competed in US Open Qualifying, where he broke his wrist prior to the main draw doubles competition. Skakle achieved a career-high ATP ranking of #244 in Singles and #201 in Doubles that year. After fracturing his wrist again, he retired after competing in US Open Qualifying in 1982.

Post Retirement

Skakle returned to UNC to complete his degree, graduating in 1983. He returned to international competition in 1999 on the International Tennis Federation's Senior Men's Circuit. That year, he was ranked #3  in the world on the International Tennis Federation's Over40 rankings in singles. Additionally, he won ITF Medallions in doubles in 1999 and 2000 in the World Championships held in Amsterdam & Buenos Aires, respectively. Skakle is a member of the United States International Club ( USIC) and has often played in international competition, including the Gordon Trophy competition between the United States and Canada. Skakle now delivers his trademark InFLOW® vision of coaching and mentoring to aspiring players; and is actively marketing the design line of the InFLOW® Athletic Apparel, which has two unique features: DynaSleeve® - The Ultimate Athletic Mid-Sleeve & PURECOOL® - PURE Performance & COOL Motion fabric.  See website - www.InFLOW.world

External links

References 

Category:American tennis coaches
Category:American male tennis players
Category:1956 births
Category:Living people
Category:Tennis people from North Carolina