# Jay Clarke (tennis)

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.
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

Clarke is from Pear Tree, Derby. 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
### 2012

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

### 2015

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

## Professional career
### 2016–2017

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.
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.

### 2018

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.

## ATP Challengers and ITF Futures finals
### Singles: 20 (11 titles, 9 runner-ups)

* 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)

* 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 |