The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS a result of her stellar 2018 campaign, Sydney Clarke is now rated among the elite junior tennis players in the region.

Clarke, 17, was ranked fourth by the The Confederation of Tennis of Central America and the Caribbean (COTECC) for her division.

COTECC is a subdivision of the International Tennis Federation. It includes 34 countries in the region and its purpose is to “encourage, direct, organise, regulate, govern and disseminate the practice of tennis, organise, sponsor and/or run tournaments, championships, training programmes and workshops for the National Tennis Federations of the Caribbean and Central America, and maintain affiliation with the ITF on behalf of the geographic area of the Caribbean and Central America.

Clarke has a current ITF ranking of 286 and will be a member of Team Bahamas at the upcoming FedCup in Lima, Peru.

Clarke has also assisted in the BLTA Play and Stay sessions and was the youngest participant in a recently held coaches development course.

“The Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association” congratulates Sydney on raising the standard high for the country and the region,” the organisation said in a press release. “We know that this is only the beginning to greater things to come.”

Clarke’s year of milestones included a pair of titles at home and a successful run on the ITF Junior Circuit around the Caribbean. She concluded 2018 as the Women’s Main Draw Champion at the BLTA’s Giorgio Baldacci National Open.

In the final, she defeated Sierra Donaldson 6-2, 6-3 en route to the win to conclude her run for the year.

“This one feels better than the last one actually,” Clarke told the Tribune following her title win. “This is the end of the year, I closed out strong by winning the title. It’s just a great feeling.”

“The last one” she referred to was the BLTA/International Tennis Federation 2018 Goombay Splash Bowl in November where she won the Women’s Under-18 Draw.

Clarke came up with a dominant performance in the third set to eventually win the title 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 over unseeded American Leyden Games.

“It was a mixture of emotions. It was a roller coaster from the beginning. The first set I was really shaky, but I was able to win,” said Clarke. “I am so proud of myself. This is my first title at home and I really, really love the fact that I won.”

Clarke ended her summer tour on the ITF Junior Circuit on a very high note with two singles titles and one doubles title.

She also had one runner-up singles finish and a pair of runner-up doubles appearances. She defeated Amy Kaplan of the USA in the Singles Final of the Wadadii Bowl in Antigua and Barbuda 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-3.

As a No.1 seed at the Tobago Jr ITF Championship, hosted at the Tacarigua National Racquet Centre, she emerged as a double champion in both the girls’ singles and doubles. Clarke won the Singles Draw with a 6-0, 7-6 (4) victory over Hannah Chambers of Barbados. In doubles play, she partnered with Riley-Codrington to win the title over American Sifa Butcher and Puerto Rican Ariana Salgueiro-Estela, the No.3 seeds, 1-6, 6-4 (10-7).

Prior to the Tobago tourney, Clarke once again reached the final in both draws at the Coca Cola ITF Junior Tennis Tournament in St Lucia.

Clarke began the summer at the JITIC Under-18 Regional Championship in Mexico in June. She reached the second round of the singles and quarter-finals of doubles before elimination. She moved on to the Junkanoo Bowl here in Nassau and reached the quarter-finals of singles play and semi-finals in doubles.