Horst Skoff

Horst Skoff
Nation:	Austria
Birthday:	22nd August 1968
Date of death:	June 7, 2008
Size:	175 cm
1st professional season:	1985
Resignation:	1995
Playing hand:	Right
Prize money:	$ 1,651,858
singles
Career record:	228: 203
Career title:	4th
Highest ranking:	18 (January 1 1990)
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	48:57
Career title:	2
Highest ranking:	70 (September 18 1989)
Grand Slam record
Mixed
Grand Slam record
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Horst Skoff (born August 22, 1968 in Klagenfurt , † June 7, 2008 in Hamburg ) was an Austrian tennis player .

life and career

In total, Skoff won four ATP tournaments in singles, including the Swedish Open , where he defeated Ronald Agénor in the 1993 final .

In 1989 he fought in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in the Ferry-Dusika-Hallenstadion Mats Wilander after 6 hours and 4 minutes 6: 7, 7: 6, 1: 6, 6: 4, 9: 7. It was the longest match in Davis Cup history after the tie-break was introduced . Skoff caused a stir again in 1989 when he defeated Goran Ivanišević 2: 6, 6: 2, 6: 3 and in the semifinals Boris Becker 7: 6, 6: 2 at the $ 500,000 ATP tournament in Hamburg . Only in the final did he lose to Ivan Lendl 4: 6, 1: 6, 3: 6.

He reached his best position in the ATP world rankings in 1990 with 18th place.

Despite the successes in the Austrian Davis Cup team , it was there that he experienced the bitterest defeats of his career. In 1990 he lost in the semi-finals against the USA in the Ernst Happel Stadium against Michael Chang despite a 2-0 lead in the game, which was canceled on Sunday when the score was 2-1 and played to the end on Monday. In 1994 in Unterpremstätten he lost again the decisive individual, this time against Marc-Kevin Goellner , after Thomas Muster had equalized to 2-2 after a 12:10 in the fifth set against Michael Stich .

But his private life also attracted public attention. For example, a temporary liaison with the former Miss World , Ulla Weigerstorfer , aroused media interest.

The Austrian tennis audience continued to pay homage to its former star (even in his absence) every year with “Hoorsti, Hoorsti…!” Chants at the ATP tournament in the Wiener Stadthalle . In 1988, Skoff was the first Austrian to win this tournament. Only 21 years later, Jürgen Melzer, another Austrian won in the town hall.

He successfully litigated against a 1997 life-long ban from ATP for doping (because he allegedly had not submitted a urine sample). After a settlement with the ATP in 2008, he received compensation of an unknown amount.

Skoff ended his career after numerous Challenger and Future tournaments in 1999, his last match on the ATP Tour he played on August 10, 1995 in San Marino .

Sudden death

From 2007 Skoff was a top-class sports advisor in the Carinthian Tennis Association of the ÖTV and owner of the Horst Skoff Academy (TC HoSka) in Klagenfurt-Welzenegg. Skoff died on June 7, 2008 in the St. Georg Hospital in Hamburg after he was found unconscious in the Hanseatic city on the same day. A heart attack was found to be the cause of death. Less than a week before his death, he had participated in the Carinthian team championship for a regional league team.

Horst Skoff was buried on June 21st in the cemetery of his hometown Kühnsdorf in the market town of Eberndorf .

Tournament victories

singles

No.	date	competition	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	1988	Athens	sand	Bruno Orešar	6: 3, 2: 6, 6: 2
2.	1988	Vienna	Carpet (i)	Thomas Muster	4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 2
3.	1990	Geneva	sand	Sergi Bruguera	7: 6, 7: 6
4th	1993	Båstad	sand	Ronald Agénor	7: 5, 1: 6, 6: 0

Double

No.	date	competition	Topping	partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	November 10, 1986	Buenos Aires	sand	Loïc Courteau	Gustavo Luza Gustavo Tiberti	3: 6, 6: 4, 6: 3
2.	August 7, 1989	Prague	sand	Jordi Arrese	Petr Korda Tomáš Šmíd	6: 4, 6: 4

Awards

Second place in the "Sportsman of the Year 1987" election carried out by the Carinthian Sports Press Club (source: "Kleine Zeitung Kärnten" of December 10, 1987, page 47; headline: Helmut Mayer and Claudia Strobl Sportsman of the Year 1987).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Skoff: Death in Hamburg . ORF . June 8th, 2008. Archived from the original on June 8th, 2008. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 8, 2008. 
2. ↑ http://www.atpworldtour.com/Share/Event-Draws.aspx?e=414&y=1989
3. ↑ to exclude third-party debt . ORF . June 10, 2008. Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 10, 2008. 
4. ↑ Horst Skoff carried to the grave. In: oesterreich.orf.at. June 21, 2008, accessed December 1, 2017 . 

Web links

• ATP profile of Horst Skoff (English)
• ITF profile of Horst Skoff (English)
• Davis Cup statistics from Horst Skoff (English)
• Late night show "Willkommen Österreich" , with Horst Skoff as a guest (video)