Kenny de Schepper (born 29 May 1987) is a
French professional
tennis
Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...
player who competed on the
ATP Challenger Tour
The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
. He has a career high ATP rankings of world No. 62 achieved in April 2014 in singles and No. 152 in doubles achieved in February 2012.
Career
Early years
De Schepper was born in
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
, France. His father Éric, originally from Belgium, was a former professional squash player. De Schepper, who is two meters tall, joined the National tennis centre in Poitiers when he was 13, however after a while he stopped playing tennis for two years due to growth injuries. He subsequently resumed and eventually turned pro in 2010.
2011
While not having any wins, he had several
runner-up finishes in
ITF Futures events and has a runner-up finish at an
ATP Challenger
The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
event – the
2011 Open EuroEnergie de Quimper, where he lost to his compatriot
David Guez in the final.
He won his first
ATP Challenger
The ATP Challenger Tour (known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series) is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. It was founded in 1976 as a replacement for the ILTF Satellite Circuit (founded in 1971) as ...
title at the
2011 Open Diputación Ciudad de Pozoblanco event against
Iván Navarro.
De Schepper made the main draw of the
2011 Wimbledon Championships. In the
2011 Wimbledon Championships qualifiers he defeated
Ádám Kellner (Q1),
Matthew Ebden (Q2), and
Simone Bolelli (Q3).
2012
In October 2012, de Schepper won consecutive Challenger tournaments, taking him to a career high ranking of 123 in singles.
The first of the two Challenger victories came in
Mons, having qualified for the tournament, before securing a title in
Rennes
Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...
a week later, not dropping a set throughout the competition.
2013
De Schepper once again played at Wimbledon and this time progressed to the fourth round, the first time he had made the last 16 at a Grand Slam tournament, courtesy of wins over
Paolo Lorenzi,
Marin Čilić
Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 3 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić has won 21 ATP Tour-level si ...
(by walkover) and
Juan Mónaco. De Schepper faced
Fernando Verdasco in the round of 16 and lost in straight sets. At the US Open, he lost in the first round to
Bradley Klahn in four sets with three tie-breaks.
2015
De Schepper reached the first round of the
Australian Open
The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...
, losing to
Lukáš Rosol in 5 sets. He lost in the first round of qualifying at the
French Open
The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...
. He advanced through the qualifiers to reach the 2nd round of the
Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...
before losing to
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
in straight sets, with Gasquet reaching the semifinals.
2016
De Schepper opened his season by representing France at the
2016 Hopman Cup with teammate
Caroline Garcia. He played against
Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British former professional tennis player and coach. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...
,
Alexander Zverev and
Nick Kyrgios
Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. Kyrgios has been ranked as high as world No. 13 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won se ...
, but did not record any wins.
2017
De Schepper qualified into the main draw in
Montpellier
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...
, falling to eventual finalist
Richard Gasquet
Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 7 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP, attained in July 2007. Gasquet won 16 singles ...
in the quarterfinals. De Schepper defeated
Mischa Zverev and
Illya Marchenko in the process. He reached the same stage in
Metz
Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...
, before
Mischa Zverev avenged his earlier defeat.
ATP Challenger and ITF Tour Finals
Singles: 21 (8–13)
Doubles: 10 (3–7)
Singles performance timeline
Wins over top-10 players
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:de Schepper, Kenny
1987 births
French male tennis players
Living people
French people of Flemish descent
French people of Belgian descent
Hopman Cup competitors
Tennis players from Bordeaux
21st-century French sportsmen