By Stephen Mason
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Playing tennis internationally is not a novelty for Boruch Skierkier, a senior from Clorinda, Argentina, and one of the offseason’s additions to Tennessee tennis. From a young age, he had to cross borders to practice the sport, making multiple stops to play collegiate tennis in the United States before coming to the University of Tennessee. All this has prepared him to make a major impact for the Volunteers this year.
In his home country of Argentina, soccer dominates the sports landscape, and Skierkier naturally gravitated toward the game. Not only was it his favorite sport to watch, but he also started playing it at the age of four. However, his soccer career was short-lived.
“I scored a goal playing in a tournament, and while celebrating with my friends and teammates, I broke my arm,” Skierkier said. “So after that, my mom told me, ‘You’re not going to come back to soccer. So you need to find an individual sport.”
After this unfortunate accident, Skierkier was forced to pivot his athletic abilities in another direction and turned his attention to tennis at the age of six. Right away, he had a partner to practice against because his older sister was already playing the sport. Skeirkier and his sister would practice with each other one or two times every week.
However, right from the start, there were challenges to pursuing this sport in his home, Clorinda.
A small city with a population of around 90,000, Clorinda only had two tennis courts. As a result, Skierkier had to travel across the Argentina-Paraguay border to play in Asunción.
By age eight, he had fallen in love with the sport and started practicing four or five times a week. The biggest initial hurdle for him was getting used to the individuality of tennis, something that was completely different from the team environment of a soccer team. Eventually, this became an aspect of the sport that he loved the most.
By the time Skierkier turned 13, he had outgrown the tennis ecosystem that Clorinda could offer him. As a result, he moved to Buenos Aires, where he could practice more and play in tournaments. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic came in 2020, the trajectory of his development as a tennis player changed completely.
“During COVID, you know, the pandemic 2020. Everything was shut down in Argentina. I couldn’t practice for almost six months,” Skierkier said. “So I was just at home in Clorinda, in my hometown, with my family, and I couldn’t practice. I couldn’t go to the gym. I couldn’t do anything.”
This six-month break gave Skierkier a chance to reflect with his parents on how he wanted to continue his career. Before this, he had considered going professional; however, it was at this point that he decided to play collegiately in the United States, where he could pursue both academic studies and a high-level playing career.
Skierkier’s first stop was at Cowley Community College in Kansas. During his time there, he helped them win NJCAA Regional and National Championships. While he was able to make a quick impact on the court, he initially struggled with adjusting to life in the United States.
The next stop for the Argentinian was Division II tennis powerhouse, Valdosta State University. There, he improved his game under the direction of Head Coach John Hansen.
With his entire roster comprising international student-athletes, Hansen is well-versed in developing overseas talent and the challenges they encounter. From the smaller things, such as adjusting to the food and shopping at Walmart, to the larger hurdles like learning a new language, these international athletes face many unique challenges off the court.
For Skierkier, it took many hours of tutoring before he could communicate in English. Despite the challenges of adjusting to a new country, Skierkier excelled on the court.
“He was friendly, a good leader, and everyone loved him,” Hansen said. “Players listened to him, and the coaches respected him.”
Hansen remembers Skierkier as a great asset to his team due to the competitive edge he brought from his experience playing at the junior college level. During tough team workouts, Skierkier inspired his younger teammates to push themselves harder. The work that he and his teammates put in off the court showed in the results. During his two years at Valdosta, Skierkier helped the team win back-to-back Division II National Championships.
After two years of playing for Valdosta State, Skierkier decided to make the move to the Division I level for his final year of collegiate play. He had the full support of his coach because he was no longer eligible to play DII. All that Hansen wants is for Skierkier to remember where he came from, something that he wishes for all of his former players.
Recording an impressive 58-5 record in singles and a 42-13 record in doubles while playing at Valdosta State, Skierkier was heavily recruited by multiple Power Four schools. Teams that pursued him included future SEC foes, Florida and Oklahoma. After a visit to Tennessee last February, he knew that Rocky Top could be a good fit for him.
“I think, honestly, we have the best coaching staff in the country,” Skierkier said. “I think that was the main reason to come to Tennessee because I knew that I would have the right people around me to help me get better as a player.”
Arriving in Knoxville this summer, the Valdosta State transfer used the time to get to know his new teammates and find his place on the Tennessee tennis team. Three of his teammates are Knoxville natives and have helped him become acclimated to the city. Living in another hemisphere from his home and his family, Skierkier has faced the challenge that many international student-athletes face: homesickness.
“Personally, during the week, I’m super busy, you know, practicing, going to class, and doing homework, studying,” Skierkier said. “But then, you know, sometimes during the weekends when you have a little bit of free time, you miss home, you miss your friends.”
In these moments, his teammates have stepped up and filled in for his family and friends.
“We spend a lot of time off the court as well. So I think that helps to bring the team closer,” Skierkier said. “And, you know, I don’t consider them my teammates, but I consider them my friends.”
Skierkier has already found success playing for Coach Chris Woodruff on Rocky Top. In fall play, he has gone 7-1 in singles. This included a marathon against Vanderbilt’s Callum Markowitz in a three-set, three-tiebreaker match. He acknowledges that there is room for improvement, and his coaches are helping him work on some areas of his game.
“I’m trying to be a little bit more aggressive with my game, you know, try to be more aggressive with my forehand, with my serve, try to come to the net more often as well,” Skierkier said. “I think there were a few matches that I’m improving, but I’m still thinking that there are a lot of things that I can improve.”
From his point of view, Skierkier believes that this year’s team has all the pieces to be an elite team. With the end of the fall season nearing and a challenging SEC schedule to look forward to in 2026, the team has been locked away at the Goodfriend Tennis Center for practice.
Skierkier has begun to find his place on this Tennessee team. While his teammates offer him friendship and support as he plays far from home, he provides the team with elite leadership capabilities that helped him win two championships for Hansen at Valdosta State.
With this being his final year of collegiate play, Skierkier hopes to launch his professional career once the season wraps up. However, he does not plan on going far. Like multiple members of last year’s Tennessee team, he will make Knoxville his home base because it is closer to the tournaments in the United States and Europe that he hopes to compete in than Argentina.
It has been a long journey with multiple stops, from Clorinda to Rocky Top; however, he has made it his home sweet home, something that will continue after he finishes playing for the Volunteers.