By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

HER sophomore year as a member of the Blazers women’s tennis team won’t start until October, but in the meantime, Bahamian phenomenon Sydney Clarke is taking advantage of all of the amenities that she missed out on as a freshman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Limited to what could be done on campus because of the coronavirus pandemic last year, Clarke said she’s finally getting to feel what college life is all about with a lot of the restrictions lifted, although they are still in a Covid-19 environment.

“Since I got back, things have been going really great,” Clarke said. “We’re finally back with in person classes, so it’s very exciting. It’s a lot of fun, but it’s a lot of what I anticipated when I first came here last year.

“I’m very excited because not only have I been able to meet a lot of new people, but in tennis, we are doing a lot more things together as a team. Compared to last year when a lot of tournaments were not held, we have a lot on the schedule for this year, so I am very excited about this year.”

During her freshman year last year, Clarke was second on the Blazers’ team with 18 singles wins, posting an 8-2 win-loss record. She ended 2021 on a six-march winning streak. She will be one of six returning players from last year with three rookies making up the nine-women roster this year.

“With the experience I got last year, I feel a lot more comfortable this year,” Clarke said. “I feel like I’m a junior or senior. I feel more comfortable, like I’ve been here for so long.”

With a year under her belt, Clarke said she’s anticipating an even greater season this year.

“I feel like I can do a lot better than last year. I want to be able to elevate my game to where I am able to get through matches mentally where I won’t be too stressed,” proclaimed Clarke, who is aiming to be one of the top three players on the team. “I just want to be able to relax and be comfortable.”

With the three freshmen on the team, Clarke said the Blazers’ coaching staff intends to review the performances of each player over the first half of the season before they make their determination on who will play what positions in both singles and doubles.

Clarke, named the 2020 Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s Female Athlete of the Year, represented the Bahamas as the number two ranked player on the team that competed at the Billie Jean King Cup, formerly the Fed Cup, for women in June in Panama City, Panama where the team placed third.

That trip to the Dominican Republic in July really helped to boost her confidence in going back to college, admitted Clarke, who has also joined a club on campus at the UAB where she get to do some community work.

“Fed Cup was really great. To have a tournament like that to play during the summer has really helped because coming back to school, I felt confident in my ability,” she noted. “I wasn’t scared or anything. I am getting better and I’m just embracing the challenges. So the Fed Cup has really prepared me for this season.”

The former CR Walker Secondary High School standout, graduated from Windsor High School where she was a part of the Albany Tennis Academy powered by Australian pro Lleyton Hewitt, who was a former number one player in the world.

As the top ranked female junior player, Clarke played on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) circuit where she posted her highest ranking of 261 in the world in 2018.

Clarke, now 19, is the daughter of Shayvon and Bernard Clarke. She has a younger sister, Sarai, who is now enrolled in Webb School in Tennessee where she is in grade seven, but not allowed to compete on the varsity team yet, but she’s eligible for cross country.