Horst Skoff (22 August 1968 – 7 June 2008) was a professional tennis player from Austria, who won four tournaments at the top-level.
Biography Skoff was born in Klagenfurt, Austria, and started playing tennis at age 6. In 1984 he won the singles title at the 16-and-under category of the Orange Bowl. He turned professional in 1985. Skoff won his first top-level singles title in 1988 at Athens. Over the course of his career he won four top-level singles titles and two tour doubles titles. His career-high rankings were world No. 18 in singles and world No. 70 in doubles. His career prize money totalled US$1,651,858.
Skoff played on Austria's Davis Cup team for nine years, compiling a 22–17 win–loss record. He helped the team reach the World Group semi-finals in 1990. Memorable Davis Cup rubbers which Skoff was involved in include a five-set win over world No. 2 Mats Wilander in the 1989 quarterfinal that lasted more than six hours; and a five-set loss to Michael Chang in the 1990 semifinal.
Despite Skoff's relative success during his career of winning four top-level tournaments, his memorable Davis Cup moments, and reaching a career high world ranking of 18 in singles competition, he never managed to progress beyond the second round at any Grand Slam event.
Skoff played in his last top-level tournament in August 1995, at the San Marino Open. From 1996–1999, due to his lower world ranking, Skoff played in challenger and futures tournaments. He retired in August 1999, after playing his last match in Sylt, Germany.
Skoff died on 7 June 2008 in Hamburg, Germany, following a heart attack at age 39.
Career finals Singles: 11 (4 wins, 7 losses) ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin 1–0 Jun 1988 Athens, Greece Clay Bruno Orešar 6–3, 2–6, 6–2Win 2–0 Oct 1988 Vienna, Austria Carpet (i) Thomas Muster 4–6, 6–3, 6–4, 6–2Loss 2–1 May 1989 Hamburg, West Germany Clay Ivan Lendl 4–6, 1–6, 3–6Loss 2–2 Aug 1989 Prague, Czechoslovakia Clay Marcelo Filippini 5–7, 6–7Loss 2–3 Sep 1989 Barcelona, Spain Clay Andrés Gómez 4–6, 4–6, 2–6Win 3–3 Sep 1990 Geneva, Switzerland Clay Sergi Bruguera 7–6(10–8), 7–6(7–4)Loss 3–4 Oct 1990 Vienna, Austria Carpet (i) Anders Järryd 3–6, 3–6, 1–6Loss 3–5 Jun 1991 Florence, Italy Clay Thomas Muster 2–6, 7–6(7–2), 4–6Loss 3–6 Sep 1991 Geneva, Switzerland Clay Thomas Muster 2–6, 4–6Win 4–6 Jul 1993 Båstad, Sweden Clay Ronald Agénor 7–5, 1–6, 6–0Loss 4–7 Jul 1994 Båstad, Sweden Clay Bernd Karbacher 4–6, 3–6
Doubles: 6 (2 wins, 4 losses) ResultW–LDateTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin 1–0 Nov 1986 Buenos Aires, Argentina Clay Loïc Courteau Gustavo Luza Gustavo Tiberti 3–6, 6–4, 6–3Loss 1–1 May 1988 Florence, Italy Clay Claudio Pistolesi Javier Frana Christian Miniussi 6–7, 4–6Loss 1–2 Aug 1988 Prague, Czechoslovakia Clay Thomas Muster Petr Korda Jaroslav Navrátil 5–7, 6–7Win 2–2 Aug 1989 Prague, Czechoslovakia Clay Jordi Arrese Petr Korda Tomáš Šmíd 6–4, 6–4Loss 2–3 Apr 1990 Nice, France Clay Marcelo Filippini Alberto Mancini Yannick Noah 4–6, 6–7Loss 2–4 Jul 1990 Kitzbühel, Austria Clay Francisco Clavet Javier Sánchez Eric Winogradsky 4–6, 6–4, 4–6
Singles performance timeline
Tournament198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenANHA1RAA1R1R1RA1RQ1AAA0 / 50–5French OpenAA2R1R2RA2R1R1RQ1AAQ3AA0 / 63–6WimbledonAA1R1R1RA2RA1RAAAAAA0 / 51–5US OpenA1RA1R1RA2R1RAAAAAAA0 / 51–5Win–loss0–00–11–20–41–30–03–40–30–30–00–10–00–00–00–00 / 215–21Grand Prix Championship Series / Super 9 tournamentsIndian WellsNot GPCS1R1R2R3RA1RA1R2RAAAA0 / 74–7Key BiscayneAAA1R3R3R3R2RAA1RAAAA0 / 64–6Monte CarloAASF3RSFQFSF1RA3R1RAAAA0 / 818–8HamburgAA2R3RF1R2R3RAA1RQ1AAA0 / 711–7RomeAA2R1R1RA2R2RAAAQ2AAA0 / 53–5StockholmAAAA3RA1RAA1RNot Super 90 / 31–3ParisNot Grand Prix Champ.2R1R2RAAAAAAAA0 / 32–3Win–loss0–00–06–44–513–76–58–63–50–02–31–40–00–00–00–00 / 3943–39National representationOlympic GamesNot Held1RNot Held1RNot HeldANot Held0 / 20–2Davis CupAZ1Z1Z1QFSF1RZ11R1RAAAAA0 / 521–13Career statisticsTitles0002010010000004Finals00023220110000011Overall win–loss1–216–823–2328–1938–2334–2534–3022–2519–1911–162–130–00–00–00–0228–203Year-end ranking29942634525263392744739233919972242953%
Top 10 wins No.PlayerRankTournamentSurfaceRdScoreSkoff Rank19871. Yannick Noah4Monte Carlo, MonacoClay2R3–6, 7–5, 6–24819892. Mats Wilander2Davis Cup, Vienna, AustriaClay (i)QF6–7, 7–6, 1–6, 6–4, 9–7353. Boris Becker2Hamburg, West GermanyClaySF7–6, 6–23119904. Andrés Gómez5Stuttgart, West GermanyClay3R7–5, 0–6, 6–4315. Thomas Muster8Kitzbühel, AustriaClayQF6–4, 6–2276. Thomas Muster7Vienna, AustriaCarpet (i)SF6–2, 7–62919917. Andre Agassi4Monte Carlo, MonacoClay2R6–0, 6–7, 6–3328. Jonas Svensson10Monte Carlo, MonacoClayQF6–3, 6–332
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