Never say die: How 2 big wins gave James Cluskey a new hope
Irish tennis pro James Cluskey won two doubles titles in the space of a fortnight last month. Now he’s trying to plot his way to bigger and better things.
FIVE WEEKS AGO James Cluskey was ready to pack it in. His form had deserted him, his shoestring budget was becoming even more frayed, and the frustration of every disappointing result was only made worse by his slide down the world rankings.
For Cluskey life as a tennis pro has never resembled the idyllic stardom of the game’s biggest names but now, more than ever, this felt like breaking point.
“I was really down,” he admits. “I was thinking it was the end.”
Then, for reasons he still can’t fully explain, everything clicked.
He travelled to Turkey at the start of July with doubles partner Fabrice Martin and won the Istanbul Challenger, his first win on the ATP’s second-tier circuit. A fortnight later he was celebrating a second doubles title, this time with Austria’s Maximilian Neuchrist at the Guimaraes Challenger in Portugal.
When the latest rankings are released today, he expects to improve on his previous best of 180th in the world. The niggling doubts have faded; instead of thinking about retiring at the age of 26, he’s thinking about how he can continue this form and earn a place in the Wimbledon qualifiers next summer.
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“I’d been on a run and played really well at the start of the year, and then the middle of the year was on clay and I was struggling for form big time,” the Dubliner recalls.
“I felt I was almost going to be finished at the end of the summer, and then Istanbul happened.
It was obviously the biggest win of my career and something that an Irish person hasn’t done for a while, win a Challenger. So I thought maybe I should keep playing a little bit longer, and then to win another one…
When he was toughing it out during that bleak period, Cluskey found people to help him pull through. Former Davis Cup captain Owen Casey is his go-to guy when it comes to working on the technical side of his game; he credits John Connor — from the Irish Strength Institute in Artane, “not the guy from Terminator” — with helping him stay injury-free.
On tour Dustin Brown, the dreadlocked Jamaican/German who briefly became something of a cult hero at Wimbledon this summer, was a big help too.
“Early in the year I met him at one of the Challengers and he said ‘Look, if I can help you out, we’ll play one together.’
We went to Johannesburg and obviously the flight was really expensive to get to Johannesburg but I’m playing with a guy who is really good so it was a a good opportunity. Then I went and we lost first round.
He pauses. “Stuff like that, when you spend a lot of money and it’s an expensive fight and then you come away with nothing, it’s added pressure. Results were getting me down a little bit.”
So what changed before the win in Turkey?
“I can’t really explain what happened to be honest. Maybe I just relaxed a little bit because I enjoyed it a little bit more. We got a little roll going in Istanbul and the confidence is just there again.”
Of course some of the day-to-day difficulties are still the same. The prize money for winning a Challenger event is little more than €1,000, just about enough to cover travel and food for a few weeks. Last week’s tournament in Segovia was the last of that block for Cluskey but while he’s at home this week, he has to juggle his tennis commitments with a trip to Russian Embassy to try and sort out a visa so that he can play in Kazan later this month.
It will never be easy but now, riding the wave of his two biggest results to date, he has a new energy and drive.
“It gives me a really good opportunity to get my ranking much higher because I’ve won those two. My goal after I won the first tournament was maybe to try to be in Wimbledon qualifiers next year or maybe the main draw. These points will count towards there so it gives me a good chance if I can keep playing well to keep pushing on for Wimbledon next year.
“I probably need to be about 130th to be in the qualifiers, and maybe 80th or 90th for the main draw. I need to keep playing well, maybe win two more Challengers and keep playing well around it.
“It’s amazing. I don’t really know how to explain it.”
Never say die: How 2 big wins gave James Cluskey a new hope
FIVE WEEKS AGO James Cluskey was ready to pack it in. His form had deserted him, his shoestring budget was becoming even more frayed, and the frustration of every disappointing result was only made worse by his slide down the world rankings.
For Cluskey life as a tennis pro has never resembled the idyllic stardom of the game’s biggest names but now, more than ever, this felt like breaking point.
“I was really down,” he admits. “I was thinking it was the end.”
Then, for reasons he still can’t fully explain, everything clicked.
He travelled to Turkey at the start of July with doubles partner Fabrice Martin and won the Istanbul Challenger, his first win on the ATP’s second-tier circuit. A fortnight later he was celebrating a second doubles title, this time with Austria’s Maximilian Neuchrist at the Guimaraes Challenger in Portugal.
When the latest rankings are released today, he expects to improve on his previous best of 180th in the world. The niggling doubts have faded; instead of thinking about retiring at the age of 26, he’s thinking about how he can continue this form and earn a place in the Wimbledon qualifiers next summer.
“I’d been on a run and played really well at the start of the year, and then the middle of the year was on clay and I was struggling for form big time,” the Dubliner recalls.
“I felt I was almost going to be finished at the end of the summer, and then Istanbul happened.
When he was toughing it out during that bleak period, Cluskey found people to help him pull through. Former Davis Cup captain Owen Casey is his go-to guy when it comes to working on the technical side of his game; he credits John Connor — from the Irish Strength Institute in Artane, “not the guy from Terminator” — with helping him stay injury-free.
(©INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan)
On tour Dustin Brown, the dreadlocked Jamaican/German who briefly became something of a cult hero at Wimbledon this summer, was a big help too.
“Early in the year I met him at one of the Challengers and he said ‘Look, if I can help you out, we’ll play one together.’
He pauses. “Stuff like that, when you spend a lot of money and it’s an expensive fight and then you come away with nothing, it’s added pressure. Results were getting me down a little bit.”
So what changed before the win in Turkey?
“I can’t really explain what happened to be honest. Maybe I just relaxed a little bit because I enjoyed it a little bit more. We got a little roll going in Istanbul and the confidence is just there again.”
Of course some of the day-to-day difficulties are still the same. The prize money for winning a Challenger event is little more than €1,000, just about enough to cover travel and food for a few weeks. Last week’s tournament in Segovia was the last of that block for Cluskey but while he’s at home this week, he has to juggle his tennis commitments with a trip to Russian Embassy to try and sort out a visa so that he can play in Kazan later this month.
It will never be easy but now, riding the wave of his two biggest results to date, he has a new energy and drive.
“It gives me a really good opportunity to get my ranking much higher because I’ve won those two. My goal after I won the first tournament was maybe to try to be in Wimbledon qualifiers next year or maybe the main draw. These points will count towards there so it gives me a good chance if I can keep playing well to keep pushing on for Wimbledon next year.
“I probably need to be about 130th to be in the qualifiers, and maybe 80th or 90th for the main draw. I need to keep playing well, maybe win two more Challengers and keep playing well around it.
“It’s amazing. I don’t really know how to explain it.”
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ATP Challenger Dustin Brown James Cluskey Owen Casey Tennis Tennis Ireland