Miller undefeated, makes main draw

Christian Miller survived a qualifying tournament to barge into the main draw of the U16 singles event in the 2012 Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championships in Wodonga, Australia.

Miller notched victories against his two seeded foes in the 28-player qualifying competition to earn a slot to the 32-player main draw. The CNMI junior netter first challenged No. 11 seed Beau Mathew Pleming and won in straight sets after the one-hour and 15-minute match, 7-5, 6-2.

In the next round, Miller played extended tennis and managed to pull off another victory. Miller eked out a nail-biter in the opening set against sixth-ranked Lachlan Skinner, 7-6, but failed to close out the match early after the latter recovered with a 6-4 victory in the second set. In the third set, Miller had enough gas left and nailed a convincing 6-2 triumph to complete the upset. The CNMI bet battled his Australian foe for about three hours.

Miller was the lone unseeded player to make it to the main draw. Joining the Saipan Southern High School student to the next round were Reegan Andrew Brown, Dylan Peter Bloor, Christian Lodewicus Slabbert, Tom Patrick Zaleski, and Andrew Healy, who were seeded first to fifth in the qualifier, No. 10 pick Adam Rynsaardt, and No. 8 pick Chris Kerswell. Miller was also the only member of the Oceania ITF Touring Team to advance to the main draw as Kiribati’s Teba Tito, Tahiti Heve Kelly, and the Cook Island’s Tamarua Payne lost in the second round of the qualifier.

In the U16 doubles, Miller teamed up with Tito and they prevailed in their opening match in the main draw against Australia’s Skinner and Trafford Mccrory. Miller and Tito took the first set, 6-3, fell in the second, 4-6, and then escaped with a 14-12 victory in the deciding third set.

Miller’s three wins were all recorded yesterday, as he played the two singles qualifiers in the morning (8:30am and 11am) and the doubles match in the afternoon (3pm). Today at 8:30am, he duels Australia’s Damien Minguez in the first round of the main draw. In the doubles, Miller and Tito face eighth-ranked Reegan Andrew Brown and Tyson Daly.

Tammy Ackerman and Thea Minor are also scheduled to play in the main draw of the girls U12 and U16 competitions, respectively, today. Ackerman squares off against Kirsten Waters in the U12 singles at 10:30am and then join forces with Jasmin Ruby Starr in battling Jovana Stanisic and Mia Vukicevic in the doubles at 4pm. Minor’s first round foe in the girls U16 singles is Priscilla Dawson, while in the doubles, Minor partners with Papua New Guinea’s Lorish Puluspene and they will take on Australia’s Julia Stutsel and Victoria Toole.

Meanwhile, Rafael Jones played in a separate event yesterday and won his opening match in the qualifying tournament for the 2012 Wodonga Grasscourt Championships.

Jones was entered in the men’s singles and eliminated Cameron Hart, 6-3, 6-3. However, the CNMI netter missed a ticket to the main draw after losing to No. 12 Benjamin Thomas Robinson in the second round, 2-6, 3-6.