by Ragan Gainey
LSU Sports Information
With much in common, Ken Skupski and Mark Growcott have developed quite a winning chemistry on the tennis court.
Both of these athletes are natives of England — Skupski from Liverpool and Growcott from Birmingham — both played together on the British Team until their teens, and now they have both reunited in the U.S. to not only be the current No. 1 LSU men’s tennis doubles team, but were also recently recognized as the No. 1 doubles team in the nation by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
“We were both on the British Team when we were younger,” said Growcott. “That’s how we know each other. I didn’t really travel with him much because I was younger. The age groups were set up for every two years, so one year we were teammates and the next year, we’d rarely see each other.”
Regardless, these two have been friends and have played in the same events since the age of 10 and have ended up together here at LSU.
At 18, Skupski was invited to play at the Wimbledon junior event and advanced to the quarterfinals, finishing in the top eight in the world. Naturally, he was recruited by many schools but made a decision to stick with LSU with a little extra help from former LSU tennis standout, Dan Kiernan. Kiernan also from England, not only talked up the LSU tennis program, but the university’s history, culture and rich traditions.
“LSU wasn’t my first choice,” Skupski said. “I had a few other options and was speaking to other schools. But once I came and was in touch with LSU that was pretty much the end of every one else. I just liked LSU so much.”
Growcott followed not long after. After first attending Tyler Junior College in Texas to finish his freshman season the No. 1 player in the nation on the junior college level, he was then recruited by numerous schools including LSU. As a friend and fellow star athlete, Skupski helped to make Growcott’s decision fairly easy in telling him that LSU was the place to be.
“I came to LSU because of Ken. Ken was already here and he came because Dan Kiernan had played here. Our coach obviously wanted me to come. Every English guy that’s come here has always been an All-American and done pretty well,” said Growcott.
With two very opposite personality types, this dynamic duo has found the perfect balance that adds to their on-court chemistry and makes this team interesting to watch.
“It’s kind of funny because we do so well, but we argue a lot on the court,” said Growcott. “He’s kind of the quiet one and I’m the one who gets more verbal. He calms me down but we argue a ton on the court though. We don’t get offended at each other because we understand one another.”
Though Growcott may be much more vocally aggressive during a match, Skupski is highly aggressive in his discipline and personal goals.
“I set my standards pretty high. I want to win everything,” said Skupski. “Every time I go on the tennis court, I want to win. My goals in college were to be No. 1 singles, No. 1 doubles and to win the team events. I’ve done one of those three. I still have a few things to achieve.”
Unrelated to tennis, Growcott stated that his main goal in college is to graduate.
“I don’t really have that many individual goals,”Growcott said. “I mean, I want to keep doing really well and keep my high ranking (individually ranked at No. 37). I want to probably go pro in doubles, but really I just want my team to do well. For me it means more to say that you’re part of a top five LSU team than top five individually.”
Eager to live up to their No. 1 ranking, the duo is making a rigorous effort in training for their first match of the 2005-2006 tennis season.
In preparation for the upcoming ITA All-American tournament beginning Oct. 3, Coach Brown has them on a strict schedule that includes not doing much of anything above from playing tennis.
“We haven’t actually competed yet as No. 1 so that will be an interesting thing to do,” said Skupski. “Right now a No. 1 ranking is just people’s opinion. It doesn’t mean anything really. It’s the end of the year that matters. It’s a nice achievement to be recognized as the No. 1 team in the nation, but our goal is to be No. 1 at the end as well as the beginning.”