Clifford "Cliff" Skakle (born October 26, 1956) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. He was born in

Buxton, North Carolina Buxton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on Hatteras Island (part of the Outer Banks) near Cape Hatteras. It is located in Dare County in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, it had a population ...

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Hall of Fame Coach Don Skakle and Sybil Skakle. When Cliff was two, the family moved to

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange, Durham and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 census, making Chapel Hill the 17th-largest municipality in the state. Chapel Hill, Durham, and the state ca ...

, where Don served 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-

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Individual Flight Champion from 1974–1978. During that period, the

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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 ATP may refer to: Companies and organizations * Association of Tennis Professionals, men's professional tennis governing body * American Technical Publishers, employee-owned publishing company * ', a Danish pension * Armenia Tree Project, non ...

world tour. He played professionally for a year until he suffered an injury to his Achilles tendon in

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, France. He was then ruled ineligible for play in early 1979. He returned to the tour in March 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

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in French InterClub in 1980 and 1981. Skakle's career featured notable matches against

Jimmy Connors James Scott Connors (born September 2, 1952) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He held the top Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking for a then-record 160 consecutive weeks from 1974 to 1977 and a career total of 268 ...

and

Eliot Teltscher Eliot Teltscher (born March 15, 1959) is a retired professional American tennis player. He won the 1983 French Open Mixed Doubles. His highest ranking in singles was #6 in the world and in doubles was #38 in the world. Tennis career Early year ...

; and in doubles against

Stan Smith Stanley Roger Smith (born December 14, 1946) is an American former professional tennis player. Smith is best known to non-tennis players as the namesake of a popular brand of tennis shoes. A world No. 1 player and two-time major singles cham ...

/ Bob Lutz at

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. Significant singles wins came against Ken Flach,

Peter Doohan Peter Doohan (2 May 1961 – 21 July 2017) was an Australian tennis player who won three consecutive Australian Hard Court Championships singles titles (1984, 1985, 1986), which remains an Open era record for that tournament. He won a further t ...

and Mike Cahill and in doubles against Danie Visser and Bob Lutz. In 1981, Skakle competed at Roland Garros (The French Open),

, won the Dutch ITF pro circuit in singles and doubles, 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

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 and 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 serves as the director of tennis for the New Haven Lawn Club, where he coaches and mentors aspiring players.

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skakle, Clifford American tennis coaches American male tennis players 1956 births Living people Tennis people from North Carolina North Carolina Tar Heels men's tennis players