Jay Alexander Clarke (born 27 July 1998) is a British tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 153 achieved on 22 July 2019.

Jay Clarke
Clarke at the 2019 French Open
Full nameJay Alexander Clarke
Country (sports) Great Britain
ResidenceDerby, United Kingdom
Born (1998-07-27) 27 July 1998 (age 26)
Derby, United Kingdom
Height1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Turned pro2016
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachYasmin Clarke
Prize money$828,378
Singles
Career record2–11 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 153 (22 July 2019)
Current rankingNo. 324 (17 June 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian OpenQ1 (2019, 2020, 2021)
French OpenQ2 (2018)
Wimbledon2R (2019)
US OpenQ1 (2018, 2019, 2022)
Doubles
Career record2–5
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 221 (16 April 2018)
Current rankingNo. 273 (17 June 2024)
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon3R (2017)
Mixed doubles
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
WimbledonSF (2018)
Last updated on: 17 June 2024.

Clarke has won eight Futures titles and three Challenger titles.

In 2017, on a Wimbledon wildcard, Clarke and Marcus Willis beat the defending doubles champions and second seeds, Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, in the second round, in five sets.

Early and personal life

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Clarke is from Pear Tree, Derby.[1] He is of Jamaican-British descent. Clarke grew up in a tennis-oriented family with his two sisters and brother also playing tennis. He attributes his love of tennis to his father Earol who also coached him and his siblings. Clarke’s older sister Yasmin (former 532 WTA) is a big part of his team.

Junior career

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2012

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Playing in the Great Britain Under 14 boys team, with Samuel Ferguson, they won the European Winter Cup defeating Sweden in the final.[2][3]

Clarke won two Tennis Europe 14U Grade 1 events to become the 14U No.1 in Europe. Consequently, Clarke gained the May AEGON Junior Player of the Month Award.[4]

2015

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Clarke was the no 1 ranked British junior, living and training in Stockholm.

Professional career

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2016–2017

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Clarke has risen from an ATP singles ranking of No. 1,621 in the world in June 2016 to a career high of No. 219 achieved on 4 December 2017. He trained with Andy Murray before the French Open and travelled with the Great Britain Davis Cup team for their tie against France.[5]

Clarke received a singles wild card for the 2017 Wimbledon qualifiers but lost in the final round. Clarke was awarded a wildcard to the doubles main draw with Marcus Willis, where they reached the third round after upsetting the defending champions and second seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in a five-setter.[6]

2018

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Clarke made his ATP main draw debut at the Queen's Club Championships where he was given a wildcard into the singles event, he lost in straight sets to the American fifth seed Sam Querrey. Clarke was awarded a wild card to the main draw of the 2018 Wimbledon Championship for his grand slam singles debut. Clarke reached the semi-finals in the mixed doubles with Harriet Dart beating the first seeds in the third round.[7]

ATP Challengers and ITF Futures finals

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Singles: 20 (11 titles, 9 runner-ups)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (3–4)
ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour (8–5)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–5)
Clay (8–4)
Grass (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Dec 2016 Egypt F35, Cairo Futures Clay   Laslo Urrutia Fuentes 6–7(6–8), 6–3, 6–1
Win 2–0 Dec 2016 Egypt F36, Cairo Futures Clay   Youssef Hossam 6–4, 6–4
Win 3–0 Mar 2017 Turkey F9, Antalya Futures Clay   Alexis Musialek 6–2, 6–4
Loss 3–1 Sep 2017 Italy F29, Santa Margherita di Pula Futures Clay   Federico Gaio 2–6, 5–7
Loss 0–1 Nov 2017 Bangalore, India Challenger Hard   Sumit Nagal 3–6, 6–3, 2–6
Loss 3–2 Mar 2018 Qatar F2, Doha Futures Hard   Benjamin Hassan 6–3, 6–7(1–7), 4–6
Win 4–2 Mar 2018 Qatar F3, Doha Futures Hard   Pietro Rondoni 6–1, 7–5
Win 1–1 Jul 2018 Binghamton, United States Challenger Hard   Jordan Thompson 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–5), 6–4
Win 2–1 Apr 2019 Anning, China Challenger Clay   Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6–4, 6–3
Loss 2–2 Nov 2019 Pune, India Challenger Hard   James Duckworth 6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Loss 2–3 Jul 2021 Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan Challenger Hard   Max Purcell 6–3, 4–6, 6–7(6–8)
Loss 2–4 Jan 2022 Forlì, Italy Challenger Hard (i)   Jack Draper 3–6, 0–6
Win 3–4 May 2022 Cuernavaca, Mexico Challenger Hard   Adrián Menéndez Maceiras 6–1, 4–6, 7–6(7–5)
Win 5–2 May 2023 M25 Reggio Emilia, Italy World Tour Clay   Julian Ocleppo 6–3, 6–4
Win 6–2 Nov 2023 M25 Antalya, Turkey World Tour Clay   Nerman Fatic 6–4, 7–5
Loss 6–3 Feb 2024 M25 Hammamet, Tunisia World Tour Clay   Kamil Majchrzak 3–6, 5–7
Win 7–3 Feb 2024 M25 Hammamet, Tunisia World Tour Clay   Sandro Kopp 4–6, 6–2, 6–3
Loss 7–4 Mar 2024 M15 Rovinj, Croatia World Tour Clay   Matej Dodig 6–7, 4–6
Win 8–4 May 2024 M25 Santa Margherita di Pula, Italy World Tour Clay   Carlos Sánchez Jover 7–6(7–4), 3–6, 6–4
Loss 8–5 Jun 2024 M25 Kiseljak, Bosnia and Herzegovina World Tour Clay   Maks Kaśnikowski 2–6, 2–6

Doubles: 14 (10 titles, 4 runner-ups)

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Legend
ATP Challenger (2–2)
ITF Futures (8–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (3–1)
Clay (7–3)
Grass (0–0)
Result W–L    Date    Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Dec 2016 Egypt F35, Cairo Futures Clay   Curtis Clarke   Chandril Sood
  Lakshit Sood
3–6, 2–6
Loss 0–1 Apr 2018 San Luis Potosí, Mexico Challenger Clay   Kevin Krawietz   Marcelo Arévalo
  Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela
1–6, 4–6
Win 1–1 Feb 2023 Chennai, India Challenger Hard   Arjun Kadhe   Sebastian Ofner
  Nino Serdarušić
6–0, 6–4
Win 1–1 Oct 2023 M15 Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt World Tennis Tour Hard   Volodoymyr Uzhylovkyi   Jiri Barnat
  Jan Hrazdil
7–5, 7–5
Win 2–1 Nov 2023 M25 Antalya, Turkey World Tennis Tour Clay   Josip Simundza   Cengiz Aksu
  Mert Naci Türker
1–6, 7–6(10–8), [10–8]
Win 3–1 Dec 2023 M15 Antalya, Turkey World Tennis Tour Clay   James MacKinlay   Sarp Ağabigün
  Corentin Denolly
7–6(7–5), 7–5
Win 4–1 Dec 2023 M15 Antalya, Turkey World Tennis Tour Clay   James MacKinlay   Bogdan Bobrov
  Petr Nesterov
6–1, 6–2
Win 2–1 Jan 2024 Oeiras, Portugal Challenger Hard (i)   Marcus Willis   Théo Arribagé
  Michael Geerts
6–4, 6–7(9–11), [10–3]
Loss 4–2 Jan 2024 M25 Loughborough, Great Britain World Tennis Tour Hard   Millen Hurrion   Charles Broom
  George Houghton
5–7, 3–6
Win 5–2 Feb 2024 M25 Hammamet, Tunisia World Tennis Tour Clay   Sandro Kopp   Corentin Denolly
  Damien Wenger
6–2, 7–5
Win 6–2 Mar 2024 M25 Badalona, Spain World Tennis Tour Clay   Augusto Virgili   Ryan Nijboer
  Alejo Sanchez Quilez
6–3, 4–6, [11–9]
Win 7–2 Apr 2024 M25 Hammamet, Tunisia World Tennis Tour Clay   Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine   Aleksandr Lobanov
  Aziz Ouakaa
6–3, 6–4
Win 8–2 May 2024 M25 Reggio Emilia, Italy World Tennis Tour Clay   Kai Wehnelt   Andrea Arnaboldi
  Federico Arnaboldi
5–7, 6–2, [10–8]
Loss 2–2 Jul 2024 Amersfoort, Netherlands Challenger Clay   David Stevenson   Marcelo Demoliner
  Guillermo Durán
6–7(2–7), 4–6

References

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  1. ^ "Jay Clarke". Derbyshire Sport County Sports Partnerships. 2014.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "European Winter Cups 14 & Under Boys". Tennis Europe. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  3. ^ "EUROPEAN WINTER CUPS B14". Tennis Europe. 19 February 2012. Archived from the original on 20 February 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  4. ^ "May 2012 – Jay Clarke". LTA. May 2012. Archived from the original on 19 October 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  5. ^ "Jay Clarke: British tennis player says he gets 15 to 20 racist messages a month". BBC Sport. 14 June 2017. Archived from the original on 26 December 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  6. ^ "Marcus Willis repeating Wimbledon fairytale – alongside doubles partner Jay Clarke". The Telegraph. 8 July 2017. Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  7. ^ "The Championships, Wimbledon 2018 – Official Site by IBM". wimbledon.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
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