By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN top-ranked junior female tennis player Sydney Clarke was hoping to go for the double dose of victory at the SVGTA NLA Junior Tennis Tournament in St Vincent & the Grenadines over the weekend.

But after falling short in the semi-finals of the girls’ singles, Clarke and her partner Mia Yabuta, from Japan, stormed to victory in the finals of the doubles competition.

The duo, playing together for the first time after they faced off against each other in the first stop on Clarke’s Caribbean tour in St Lucia, pulled off an impressive 6-1, 6-3 win over Barbados’ pair of Hannah Chambers and Chloe Weekes. Clarke and Yabuta were the top seeds, while Chambers and Weekes were No.2.

“The doubles eased the pain a bit,” said Clarke about losing in singles.

“We had a lot of energy. We pressed gas and we didn’t let go. We didn’t make as many mistakes as our opponents and we just kept the fire going. We didn’t give them a chance.”

On playing with Yabuta for the first time, Clarke said they consented to stay as positive as possible and they concentrated on getting the job done as quickly as they could.

“The key to our success was being positive and producing a lot of energy,” Clarke stated.

Clarke, 17, was also the top seed in singles.

However, she got eliminated in the semi-finals, losing 6-4, 6-1 to No.6 seed Jade Marie from France.

“I thought I played very well. My opponent was just better that day,” Clarke said. “She put more balls on the court, I made more errors. She wanted it more, but overall, I was pleased with my play. I did what I could have done.

After getting a bye in the first round, Clarke won 6-0, 6-1 over Marie Honore from Trinidad & Tobago in the second round. In the quarter-finals, she breezed past Weekes, the No.8 seed, 6-0 6,-2 to square off against Marie.

It was the second of four stops on the tour for Clarke, who started out in St Lucia at the St Lucia ITF Junior Tennis Tournament where she lost in the first round in singles to American Mia Slama 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-1 before her and her Barbados’ partner Tangia Riley-Codrington, also the top seeds, lost 7-5, 6-0 to Issey Purset of Great Britain and Yabuta of Japan.

Starting today, Clarke will be playing in the ITF Trinidad Summer Bowl in Trinidad & Tobago before closing out the trip Wadadli Bowl in Antigua & Barbuda, starting on August 26.

“I hope to make the final,” she said. “I want to take it one step at a time. I lost in semifinals here, so I hope to make up for it and make the final and come out with the win. I just have to keep pushing and believing.”

Although she didn’t get a chance to play in any of the biggest tournaments on the ITF circuit, Clarke said she’s quite pleased with her progress in the Grade 5 tournaments she’s in now in the Caribbean.

“I feel I feel I’m accomplished a lot of my goals, winning both singles and doubles titles,” she stated. “So that was a great feeling. Plus I was able to achieve a ranking in the top 500. My best was 261 last year, so I was able to accomplish some of my goals.”

Her trip will conclude the following week in Tobago.

Davis Cupper Donte Armbrister is also participating in the same series of tournaments. As the No.4 seed in St Lucia, Armbrister reached the quarter-final, losing 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 to No.5 seed Erik Kovacs from Canada.

Jacobi Bain, the top seed, got eliminated in the first round, 6-2, 6-2 to Niklas Von Hellens from the United States. Bain then teamed up with Hellens, losing in the quarter-final in the boys’ doubles, 6-3, 6-3 to the top-ranked team of Christian Kuehne of Switzerland and Ian Pessoa Cruz from Brazil.

In St Vincent & the Grenadines, Armbrister participated in the boys singles. As the No.3 seed, he won his opening match 6-2, 6-1 over American qualifier Rhajzon Rankins, only to be ousted in the second round by Barbados’ Kaipo Marshall 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Armbrister also teamed up with Ellis Short in doubles where they were the No.2 seeds. They won their opener 6-1, 6-1 over Ebolum Pastor Nwokolo and Ethan Wong of Trinidad & Tobago. They got past the American combo of Rankins and Chukwudumebi Smarty 7-5, 6-1. But in the semifinal, they fell short, losing 6-7 (5), 6-2 (10-8) to Barbados’ Kaipo Marshall and Stephen Slocombe, who went on to win the title.

Southpaw Armbrister, 17, will be the No.4 seed in the tournament this week in Trinidad.