The 2025 Clearwater Bay Champions Cup took place over the weekend with Evan King/Jason Jung (USA/TPE), Ray Ho/David Pel (TPE/NED), Matthew Romios/Ryan Seggerman (AUS/USA), Bart Stevens/Vasil Kirkov (NED/USA), and Vjiay Prashnath/Nam Ji Sung (IND/KOR) competing for a total prize purse worth HK$760,000, an increase of 52% compared to last year’s HK$500,000.
At ATP No. 16, King is the highest-ranked player in this year’s Clearwater Bay field. He won three titles this season—Brussels 250, Dallas 500, and Acapulco 500—and reached the French Open semifinals partnering Christian Harrison. They also qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals.
Both King and Jung starred on University of Michigan’s men’s tennis team. King was a three-time ITA All-American and two-time Big Ten Athlete of the Year during his Ann Arbor stint. He finished his Wolverine career with a 116-34 singles record and is Michigan’s all-time leader in combined singles and doubles wins with 195. He finished his senior year with a 32-5 singles record, including a 23-1 mark in dual matches and a perfect 10-0 record in Big Ten play.
As a doubles duo, they finished the 2010-2011 season ranked No. 22 in NCAA Division I.
Prior to college, King was ranked No. 1 in the USTA under-18s and No. 14 on the ITF Junior Circuit. At the 2008 Junior Davis Cup Finals in San Luis Potosi, he went 5-0 in singles and 3-0 in doubles to lead USA to the title over Argentina.
On Saturday, however, Nam Ji Sung/Vijay Natarajan, Ryan Seggerman/Matthew Romios, and Ray Ho/David Pel ambushed the Michigan pair, with two of those losses coming in a third set super-tiebreak.
Ray Ho/David Pel and Bart Stevens/Vasil Kirkov (NED/USA) both head to the semifinals with a 3-1 win-loss record, while Matthew Romios/Ryan Seggerman qualified with two wins and two losses. Both Nam Ji Sung/Vijay Prashanth (KOR/IND) and Evan King/Jason Jung (USA/TPE) had identical 1-3 records, but the former went through due to their opening day 4-3(4) 4-3(6) victory over their counterparts.
In the semis, Matthew Romios/Ryan Seggerman (AUS/USA) defeated Bart Stevens/Vasil Kirkov (NED/USA) 7-6(4) 6-7(3) [10-7], while Ray Ho/David Pel (TPE/NED) saw off Nam Ji Sung/Vijay Prashanth (KOR/IND) with a strong finish 4-6 7-5 [10-4].
In the final, the pair of left-handers, Pel and Ho, were dominant on serve and created numerous chances for themselves with exquisite service returns, beating Romios and Seggerman in straight sets 6-2 6-2. The 6-foot-6 Pel, world ranked No. 29, was runner-up at Wimbledon, Athens, and Hangzhou this year, while his partner Ray Ho captured 8 doubles titles on the Challenger circuit in 2025.
When Benny Lin/Stephen So won the inaugural Clearwater Bay Indoor Doubles Classic title in 2003, they split a grand sum of HK$16,000. This year’s winning pair Ray Ho and David Pel will get to share HK$300,000 between them.
ATP doubles ranking (Dec 8):
King 18
Pel 29
Kirkov 60
Stevens 61
Seggerman 67
Ho 70
Romios 71
Prashnath 105
Nam 173
Jung 384
Prize Money Distribution
Winning Pair: Each player receives HK$150,000
Runners-Up: Each player receives HK$90,000
3rd Place: Each player receives HK$65,000
4th Place: Each player receives HK$45,000
Rest of the field: Each player receives HK$30,000