Three junior netters leave for NZ

CNMI junior tennis players Thea Minor, Rafael Jones, and Christian Miller left for New Zealand yesterday to compete in three tournaments there.

The three CNMI bets are part of the Pacific Oceania Touring Team and received an invitation to join in tournaments in New Zealand after their impressive showings in the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji in August.
Minor, Jones, and Miller would have had stops in Guam, Korea, and Australia before arriving in Auckland, New Zealand and meeting ITF development office Dan O’Connell. They had a 10-hour layover in Korea and are expected to reach Auckland tonight.

This will be Minor’s second stint in New Zealand, as she was also part of the Pacific Oceania Touring Team last year.

“I am hoping to perform better this time, as I had already experienced what was it like to play against Australian and New Zealand players,” said Minor, who this time will be competing in the higher age group (14 to 16).

The 12-year-old Minor joined events for 12 to 14 age groups last year.

“Last year, I was kind of nervous because I was the lone CNMI player and it was my first time there. Now I have more confidence and I have Christian and Rafael on my side. We will be cheering for each other,” she added.

Jones and Miller are first-timers and though they knew that matches in New Zealand will be tougher compared to CNMI tournaments, they still wanted to make good debuts against the Aussies and Kiwis.

“It will be hard to make it to the No. 1 spot, but I will do my best to finish in the Top 3 of all three tournaments,” Jones said. “I’ve been training hard in the past two months and I hope it will be enough to get good results in New Zealand.

“The tournaments in New Zealand will give Raffy a clear look of how players in Australia and New Zealand play. It will give him a perspective on how far he has to go or what kind of improvement he needs to be at their level. Win or lose, we are proud of him for making the team,” said Rafael’s father, John.

Christian’s father, Brian, believes the tournaments in New Zealand will make his son a better player.

Christian said he is aiming to show consistency and control against Kiwi and Aussie players.

“It will be hard and I am quite nervous, but I will try to win as many games as possible and learn from other players,” Christian said.

The CNMI netters will debut in Waikato Tournament, which will run from Dec. 7 to 13. From Waikato, they will travel to Poverty Bay, which will host a tournament from Dec. 14 to 17. Jones, Miller, and Minor will return to Auckland on Dec. 18 for their third tournament, which will run from Dec. 18 to 22.

The three junior players are expected to return home on Christmas Day as they leave Auckland on Dec. 23.