# Straight Clark

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{{short description|American tennis player}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox tennis biography
| name                  = Straight Clark
| fullname              = Louis Straight Clark
| image                 = 
| country               = {{USA}}
| birth_date            = February 10, 1925
| birth_place           = [Des Moines](/source/Des_Moines), [Iowa](/source/Iowa), U.S.
| death_date            = {{death date and age|1995|2|10|1925|2|10}}
| death_place           = [Haverford, Pennsylvania](/source/Haverford%2C_Pennsylvania), U.S.
| height                =
| turnedpro             =
| retired               =
| plays                 =
| careerprizemoney      = 
|tennishofyear =
|tennishofid =
| singlesrecord         = 320-105
| singlestitles         = 37
| highestsinglesranking = 4<ref>Straight Clark. https://www.sphsaa.org/class_profile.cfm?member_id=1589958</ref>
| AustralianOpenresult  = QF ([1953](/source/1953_Australian_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men's_singles))
| FrenchOpenresult      = QF ([1951](/source/1951_French_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men's_singles))
| Wimbledonresult       = 4R ([1952](/source/1952_Wimbledon_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men's_singles))
| USOpenresult          = QF ([1952](/source/1952_U.S._National_Championships_%E2%80%93_Men's_singles))
| doublesrecord         = 
| doublestitles         = 
| highestdoublesranking = 
| AustralianOpenDoublesresult  = QF ([1953](/source/1953_Australian_Championships))<ref name="AusResults">[http://www.ausopen.com/en_AU/event_guide/history/players/5388.html Australian Open Results Archive]</ref>
| WimbledonDoublesresult       = 3R ([1951](/source/1951_Wimbledon_Championships), [1952](/source/1952_Wimbledon_Championships))<ref name="WimbledonResults">[http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/archive/players/00e2ee08-e9fe-4ebe-b483-745bfee1a2d7/index.html Wimbledon Results Archive]</ref>
| FrenchOpenDoublesresult      =
| USOpenDoublesresult          =
| Mixed = yes
| AustralianOpenMixedresult =
| FrenchOpenMixedresult     = 
| WimbledonMixedresult      =
| USOpenMixedresult         = 
| updated               = 
| awards                = 
| Team = yes
| DavisCupresult = '''W''' ([1954](/source/1954_Davis_Cup))
}}

'''Louis Straight Clark''' (February 10, 1925 &ndash; February 10, 1995) was an American [tennis](/source/tennis) player in the mid-20th century. Clark was once ranked world No. 4 in men's singles.<ref>Straight Clark. https://www.sphsaa.org/class_profile.cfm?member_id=1589958</ref> He was ranked the No. 5 American player by the USTA for 1953.<ref>USTA Top Ten. https://www.usta.com/en/home/about-usta/usta-history/national/mens-womens-year-end-top-10.html#tab=men's</ref>

He was born in [Des Moines](/source/Des_Moines), [Iowa](/source/Iowa). He played college tennis at the [University of Southern California](/source/University_of_Southern_California).

A member of the US [Davis Cup](/source/Davis_Cup) team, he was 5–0 in matches in 1953 and 1954 (and the latter year, a member of the winning team).

Clark won five tournaments in the 1951 season, including the singles title in [Monte Carlo](/source/Monte-Carlo_Masters) in 1951 after a five-set win in the final against compatriot [Fred Kovaleski](/source/Fred_Kovaleski). That same year he defeated [Whitney Reed](/source/Whitney_Reed) to reach the final of the Pennsylvania State tennis championship, only to fall to future Hall of Famer [Vic Seixas](/source/Vic_Seixas). In 1952 he won the Western India Tennis Championships in Bombay against [Władysław Skonecki](/source/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_Skonecki).<ref>{{cite news |title=Clark Triumphs in West India Net Play. Straight Clark of Los Angeles beat Vladislav Sckonecki exiled pole, in the men's singles final of the Western India Tennis Championships in Bombay.|work=Long Beach Independent |publisher=Newspaper Archives |date=25 February 1952 |location=Long Beach, California, United States |page=59}}</ref>

In 1954, he won the singles title at the tournament in [Cincinnati Masters](/source/Cincinnati_Masters), defeating [Sammy Giammalva, Sr.](/source/Sam_Giammalva), in the final in three straight sets.

He reached the final at the [Newport Casino Invitational](/source/Newport_Casino_Invitational) in 1954, only to lose to [Ham Richardson](/source/Ham_Richardson) in five sets, in a match that lasted more than four hours.

When he teamed with fellow American [Hal Burrows](/source/Hal_Burrows), the pair became one of the top doubles teams of their time. They reached the finals of the U.S. Clay Court Championship, and the semifinals of the [U.S. Nationals](/source/U.S._Open_(tennis)), upsetting the team of future International Hall of Famers [Ken Rosewall](/source/Ken_Rosewall) and [Lew Hoad](/source/Lew_Hoad) in the quarterfinals. Clark and Burrows also reached the quarterfinals at the [French National Championships](/source/French_Open), [Rome](/source/Rome_Masters) and [Wimbledon](/source/The_Championships%2C_Wimbledon).

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{ITF}}
* {{ATP}}
* {{Davis Cup player}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Straight}}
Category:American male tennis players
Category:Tennis players from Des Moines, Iowa
Category:1925 births
Category:1995 deaths
Category:20th-century American sportsmen

{{US-tennis-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Straight Clark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_Clark) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_Clark?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.