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LSU Tennis Tigers on Tour

BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tennis program has a total of 4 former players currently competing professionally across the globe. There are three former men’s tennis players on tour and one LSU women’s tennis alumnus. These Tiger tennis alumni travel with the tour around the world to face the best the sport has to offer in hopes of improving their ranking and qualifying for major tournaments. Here is an update on how the Tigers have performed.

On the men’s side, the former Tigers currently competing professionally including Boris Arias, Ken Skupski, and Michael Venus. The trio were coached by current LSU men’s tennis head coach Danny Bryan in college, who was an assistant coach during their time on campus. They remain close with Bryan and the program to this day.

The LSU women’s team is represented by alumnus Paris Corley. Corley, a 2021 ITA Singles All-American, graduated from LSU in May 2021 and began her professional career later in the year.

Tigers in the US Open

The U.S. Open is slated to begin on Monday, August 29. Neal Skupski and Michael Venus are set to compete with their partners in the men’s doubles bracket.

Neal Skupski

Neal Skupski has found his groove on the ATP tour and enters the fall of 2022 with 12 career ATP doubles titles. The year 2022 has been the best yet for Skupski as he has claimed six doubles titles on the year as of August. Skupski has struck a strong partnership with the Netherland’s Wesley Koolhof as the duo have claimed six titles together and are currently ranked No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Team Rankings. The top 8 duos at the end of the year will face off at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Individually, Skupski continues to climb the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings, reaching a new career high of No. 3 in August.

His success in doubles reaches beyond the ATP Tour as he had tremendous success in mixed doubles. In 2021, Skupski partnered with American Desirae Krawcyzk for the Wimbledon Mixed Doubles bracket. The duo won five straight matches, with four coming in only two sets, enroute to claiming the title. The 2021 title marked the second time an LSU alumnus claimed a Grand Slam Title, and first since Michael Venus won the 2017 French Open doubles title. Skupski and Krawcyzk returned in 2022 and repeated the feat, becoming the first duo since 1995 to repeat as Wimbledon Mixed Doubles champions.

Michael Venus

Michael Venus remains an important figure in Tiger history as he became the first LSU alumnus to win a Grand Slam Title. He and partner Ryan Harrison claimed the 2017 French Open doubles competition after entering the tournament unseeded and used six straight three set wins to take the title.

Venus remains a top contender in the doubles scene today. He has 17 ATP doubles titles to his name in his career and has one in 2022 entering the U.S. Open. Venus began teaming with Germany’s Tim Puetz in 2021 and the duo have three titles together. In the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Team Rankings, the pair are currently ranked No. 7.

Venus has also hit new highs in 2022 as he cracked the top 10 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings for the first time in his career. He’s currently ranked No. 7, which is a career-high.

Boris Arias

Boris Arias has enjoyed a strong 2022 and continues to climb in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings. Arias cracked the top 200 for the first time in August of 2022, reaching as high as No. 199. He’s currently ranked No. 201.

Paris Corley

Corley has claimed two doubles titles thus far in her professional career. The first came in November of 2021, where she teamed with Lexington Reed and claimed the 2021 W15 Guatemala. The second came in August of 2022, where she won the W15 Cancun alongside Melany Solange Krywoj.

Happy Trails, Ken Skupski!

LSU-great Ken Skupski took a bow on his 15-year professional career in July of 2022. Skupski finished his career with 7 ATP doubles titles and 48 Challenger titles. He was selected to represent Great Britain in international play in multiple competitions such as the Commonwealth Games, where he earned two medals, and the Davis Cup.

Of Skupski’s 7 ATP doubles titles, four came playing with his little brother and fellow LSU great, Neal. The most recent and final of Ken’s career came in 2021 when the duo won the Telcel Mexican Open doubles competition.

Skupski can hold his head high as he retires having been a tremendous ambassador to the sport, his alumni, and his country while carving out a well-decorated career.