James Cluskey

James Cluskey (born 18 August 1986) is a retired Irish professional tennis player, mainly playing doubles. He was born in Dublin, Ireland and attended Belvedere College along with fellow Irish tennis player James McGee. Cluskey was, for some time, the highest ranked Irish doubles player. Cluskey retired from professional tennis in November 2015.

Career

Early career In 2004, Cluskey won the Irish under-18 singles championship. He also reached the final of the men's doubles and won the mixed doubles at the national championships. He then took the decision in 2005 to move to the United States, where he played college tennis for Louisiana State University. He had a successful four years there where he achieved a national doubles ranking of 3 with partner Ken Skupski. His form earned him a call up to the Irish Davis Cup team for their match against Slovenia where he narrowly lost a tense five set match in the doubles rubber. He continued playing futures during the summer months when he was not attending university. He won his first ever Challenger level match in 2008 at the Shelbourne Irish Open, partnering Colin O'Brien.

2013 Cluskey started 2013 in the same excellent form he had finished 2012 in. By now he was focusing solely on doubles and he reached four consecutive futures finals in his first four tournaments of the year, although he only won one of them. until he spectacularly turned his from round by teaming up with old partner Fabrice Martin to win the PTT Cup. It was the first time either of them had won a title at challenger level. He teamed up with David O'Hare and they nearly pulled off a shock result against Aliaksandr Bury and former world number one doubles player Max Mirnyi, losing in five sets after having had match points in the fourth. Cluskey then went on to reach the final of a futures event in Nottingham with Liam Broady. In April, Cluskey won his first ever Davis Cup rubber, as Ireland overcame Egypt for a 3-2 victory. Clsukey continued to play with a variety of partners and his form began to improve in late May, having struggled earlier in the year, where he reached the semifinals of Karshi Challenger. He then also reached the semifinals of the Prague Open. In July, partnering Mikhail Kukushkin, he made the cut for his first ever ATP World Tour event – the Swedish Open. They were defeated in their opening match by fourth seeds Brunström and Monroe. Cluskey then reached the final of the Guzzini Challenger with Lithuanian Laurynas Grigelis but they were defeated in the final set match tie-break. He failed to continue this form in the following week as he lost in the quarter-finals of the Tampere Open with partner Darren Walsh. After back-to-back first-round exits in Segovia and Prague, Cluskey recovered to reach the semi-finals of the Maserati Challenger with Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela.

Davis Cup Cluskey has represented the Irish Davis Cup team on eight occasions since his first appearance in 2006. He has only competed in doubles for his country and so far has only won one rubber, holding a 1–7 record. His last appearance was in 2014.

Doubles titles Legend (doubles) Grand Slam (0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0) ATP World Tour 500 (0) ATP World Tour 250 (0) ATP Challenger Tour (2) ITF Futures (14)

Wins (16)

No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score 1. 13 February 2010 Eilat, F3 Hard Michael Venus Aliaksandr Bury Pavel Katliarov 6–7(3), 6–3, [15–13] 2. 9 May 2010 Edinburgh, F6 Clay Colin O'Brien Barry King Marcus Willis 6–3, 6–3 3. 24 July 2010 Dublin, F1 Carpet Colin O'Brien Colin Ebelthite Barry King 6–2, 7–6(1) 4. 21 August 2010 Jūrmala, F1 Clay Colin O'Brien Jakub Lustyk David Novak 2–6, 6–3, [14–12] 5. 26 March 2011 Vaduz, F2 Carpet Fabrice Martin Piotr Gadomski Tim Van Terheijden 7–6(2), 6–4 6. 2 April 2011 Taverne, F3 Carpet Claudio Grassi Erik Crepaldi Piotr Gadomski 6–2, 6–1 7. 4 June 2011 Ashkelon, F6 Hard John Paul Fruttero Noam Behr Igor Smilansky 6–3, 6–0 8. 2 October 2011 Forbach, F16 Carpet Jean Andersen Michael Bois Kevin Botti 5–7, 6–1, [10–3] 9. 30 March 2012 Cividino, F2 Hard Purav Raja Andrea Agazzi Enrico Iannuzzi 6–7(10), 6–4, [10–2] 10. 30 June 2012 Palma del Río, F18 Hard Fabrice Martin Gerard Granollers Andoni Vivanco-Guzmán 6–3, 6–4 11. 8 September 2012 Bagnères-de-Bigorre, F15 Hard Fabrice Martin Charles-Antoine Brézac Simon Cauvard 6–7(4), 7–5, [11–9] 12. 12 January 2013 Schwieberdingen, F1 Hard Alexander Satschko Dominique Maden Yannick Maden 6–0, 6–1 13. 14 July 2013 Istanbul Hard Fabrice Martin Brydan Klein Ruan Roelofse 3–6, 6–3, [10–5] 14. 28 July 2013 Guimarães Hard Maximilian Neuchrist Roberto Ortega Olmedo Ricardo Villacorta-Alonso 6–7(5), 6–2, [10–8] 15. 23 August 2013 Minsk, F2 Hard Fabrice Martin Andrei Ciumac Volodymyr Uzhylovskyi 6–3, 6–4 16. 31 August 2013 Pozoblanco, F28 Hard Maximilian Neuchrist Ivan Arenas-Gualda José Checa Calvo 6–3, 6–2

Runner-up (15) No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponent in the final Score 1. 18 June 2010 Kelibia, F3 Hard Colin O'Brien Laurent Rochette Mikhail Vasiliev 3–6, 6–1, [6–10] 2. 23 July 2011 Dublin, F1 Carpet James McGee Albano Olivetti Neal Skupski 6–7(4), 3–6 3. 18 September 2011 Mulhouse, F14 Hard Fabrice Martin Pierre-Hugues Herbert Albano Olivetti 3–6, 4–6 4. 9 October 2011 Nevers, F17 Hard Alexandre Sidorenko Kevin Botti Laurent Rochette 6–7(3), 3–6 5. 14 October 2011 Saint-Dizier, F18 Hard Sam Barry Holger Fischer Jan Mertl 4–6, 5–7 6. 23 October 2011 La Roche-sur-Yon, F19 Hard Jean Andersen Jeremy Blandin Gleb Sakharov 6–7(2), 6–3, [7–10] 7. 29 October 2011 Rodez, F20 Hard Jean Andersen Pierre-Hugues Herbert Albano Olivetti 4–6, 3–6 8. 16 June 2012 Martos, F16 Hard Sam Barry Iván Arenas-Gualda Jaime Pulgar-García 6–7(4), 6–7(7) 9. 11 October 2012 Saint-Dizier, F20 Hard Alexandre Sidorenko Antoine Benneteau Nicolas Renavand 5–7, 4–6 10. 19 January 2013 Stuttgart-Stammheim, F2 Hard Alexander Satschko Philipp Marx Florin Mergea 2–6, 2–6 11. 27 January 2013 Bressuire, F2 Hard Goran Tošić Pierre-Hugues Herbert Nicolas Renavand 2–6, 6–7(7) 12. 8 February 2013 Wirral, F4 Hard Sean Thornley Lewis Burton Neal Skupski 6–7(5), 6–2, [7–10] 13. 9 March 2013 Lille, F4 Hard Lewis Burton Jonathan Eysseric Nicolas Renavand 7–6(3), 6–7(5), [5–10] 14. 15 September 2013 Istanbul-2 Hard Adrián Menéndez Maceiras Jamie Delgado Jordan Kerr 3–6, 2–6 15. 21 February 2014 Nottingham, F5 Hard Liam Broady Rémi Boutillier Quentin Halys 2–6, 6–0, [8–10] 16. 19 July 2014 Recanati Hard Laurynas Grigelis Ilija Bozoljac Goran Tošić 7–5, 4–6, [5–10]