By Glenys Furness
- Jay Clarke defeated top seed to claim first ATP Challenger title.
- Eighth seed fought hard for the win
BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, USA – Jay Clarke claimed his first ATP Challenger tour win defeating the top seed in the final.
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Brit of the Week
Jay Clarke was seeded eighth at the Binghamton Challenger in New York. The event has been a happy hunting ground for other Brits at the start of the hard court swing. In the first round the Brit was up against Chung Yun-Seong. The South Korean appeared overwhelmed at the start and struggled to hold serve. Clarke had soon dominated the set and was ahead. Yun-Seong regrouped in the second set and forced a tiebreak. However the Brit was was not in the mood for losing and claimed the breaker to move into the second round 6-1, 7-6(4).
In the second round the young Brit was against Marcos Giron. The American got off to a flying start and caught Clarke on the hop. Taking the first set with a break of serve Giron looked to be progressing into the next round. However, Clarke fought back in the next set and broke serve to level the match. In the final set the young Brit dominated the set and moved into the quarter-final 3-6. 6-3, 6-2.
The quarter-final saw the eighth seed up against Evgeny Karlovskiy. Just like in the previous round the Brit struggled in the first set, the Russian was in dominant form. Karlovskiy broke the seed almost at will and served up a breadstick set. Clarke, however, was not going out without a fight. The Brit claimed the second set with breaks of his own and levelled up the match. The final set required just one break of serve Clarke came through 1-6, 6-2, 6-4.
In the semi-final the Brit faced the second seed Marcel Granollers. The Spaniard was favourite for the match, but Clarke completely dominated Granollers. The second seed was unable to get anything at all on the serve of the eighth seed. Clarke took control and booked his place in the final with a straight sets win 6-1, 6-2.
The final saw Clarke up against the Australian Jordan Thompson. As top seed the Aussie was trying to win the Challenger event, after making the final the previous year he wanted to go one step better. Both players were going toe to toe in the first set, and a tiebreak ensued. The Aussie edged the breaker to get off to the best start. Clarke forced another tie break in the second set, and this time despite being down 3-0 pulled it back to level up. The final set was very tense, but Clarke managed the break and held on to serve out 6-7(6), 7-6(5), 6-4.
Thompson will be getting fed up of Brits, as last year the Aussie was once again runner up, this time to Cameron Norrie. Kyle Edmund won the event in 2015 and Andy Murray in 2005 making Binghamton a very successful challenger for Brits.
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ITF & Challenger Round Up
James Ward was defeated by Jordan Thompson in the first round in Binghamton 7-5, 6-2.
Alex Ward was defeated by Dan Evans in the first round in Binghamton 6-2, 7-6(4).
Evans was defeated by Darian King in the second round in Binghamton 6-3, 7-6(3).
Liam Broady was defeated by Brayden Schnur in the first round in Granby 6-4, 64.
Finn Bass was defeated by Ezekiel Clark in the first round of the USA Futures 7-6(6), 6-3.
Tom Farquharson was defeated by Alec Adamson in the quarter-final of the USA Futures 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
Samm Butler was defeated by Martins Podzus in the quarter-final in Lithuania 6-3, 6-0.
Paul Jubb won the title in Lithuania defeating Denis Klok 6-4, 6-2.
Billy Harris was defeated by Javier Barranco Cosano in the quarter-final in Spain 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(0).
Isaac Stoute was defeated by Kaito Uesugi in the quarter-final in Indonesia 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.
Dan Dowson was defeated by Nuno Borges in the first round in Portugal 6-2, 6-2.
Freya Christie was defeated by Francesca Di Lorenzo in the first round in Granby 6-4, 0-6, 6-3.
Samantha Murray was defeated by Julia Glushko in the first round in Granby 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4.
Tara Moore was defeated by Martina Colmegna in the first round in Porto 6-1. 6-3.
Sarah Beth Grey was defeated by Olga Sáez Larra in the quarter-final in Porto 6-2, 6-2.
Francesca Jones won the title in Tampere defeating Bojana Marinković 6-2, 7-6(2)
Next week Brits play in Washington, Los Cabos, Lexington, Chengdu, USA Futures, Slovakia, Ireland, Indonesia, Austria, Finland, San Jose & Woking.
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