SAN FRANCISCO – Hugh Clarke of the Pepperdine men’s tennis team opened the Battle in the Bay Classic with a spectacular first-round victory to eliminate the tournament’s top seed from the singles bracket. He later went on to win in doubles with partner David Sofaer.
Clarke (Brisbane, Australia/Brisbane Boys College) defeated #63 Damian Hume, 6-3, 7-5. It was the first time Clarke has upended a ranked singles opponent in his career as a Wave.
In the second round, Clarke will face California’s Ahmed Ismail.
In the doubles draw, Clarke and Sofaer (Bellevue Hill, Australia/Sydney Distance Learning) teamed up for the first time in collegiate competition. They walked away with the “W” after topping Ismail and Riki McLachlan in the tiebreaker of the eight-game pro set.
Tomorrow morning the Pepperdine pair takes on the top-seeded doubles team of Clarke Spinosa and Patrick Pohlmann of San Diego.
Sofaer begins action in the consolation singles bracket on Friday after suffering a close three-set loss to Stanford’s Walker Kehrer today at the California Tennis Club.
Full results and recaps can be found at www.PepperdineSports.com at the end of each day.
Battle in the Bay Classic
Singles - First Round
Hugh Clark (PEP) def. #63 Damian Hume [1] (Boise State), 6-3, 7-5
Walker Kehrer (STAN) def. David Sofaer (PEP), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Doubles – First Round
David Sofaer/Hugh Clark (PEP) def. Ahmed Ismail/Riki McLachlan (CAL), 9-8(4)
