Previous Story
Lee takes top ranking
With her victories in two tournaments in Fiji, Carol Lee is now the highest-ranked CNMI player in the ITF Juniors Circuit.
Carol Lee, seen here in action during the 2015 IT&E Northern Marianas Junior Championships held in May on Saipan, is now the CNMI’s highest-ranked junior player in the world. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)
Lee jumped from No. 1,498 (June 29, 2015) to No. 780 (Aug. 10, 20150) to dislodge long-time No. 1 Tammy Ackerman, who achieved her highest-ranked at No. 951 on Jan. 5, 2015, but is now at No. 1,299. The two other Commonwealth players who hold ITF Juniors rankings are Mikayla Lopez (No. 1,450) and Negahr Rastguiy (No. 2,247).
The 13-year-old Lee, who is the youngest among the world-ranked CNMI female players, reached the top of the ladder after making it to the semifinals of the Oceania Open Junior Championships held from July 27 to Aug. 3 and winning her first round singles match in the Oceania Closed Junior Championships 2015 that took place from Aug. 4 to 8.
She gained 15 ranking points for advancing to the Final Four of the Grad 5 event. Lee worked her way into the semifinals of the Oceania Open Junior Championships after eliminating Australia’s Emily Thompson, New Zealand’s Stella Cliffe, and Hong Kong’s Justine Sophie Leong. In the semis, the CNMI bet fell to eventual champion and Hong Kong’s Claudia Ng.
A day after marching into the semifinals of the Oceania Open Junior Championships, Lee suited up for the Oceania Closed Junior Championships 2015, which was a B2 event and awarded more ranking points. She went on to win her first match in the Oceania Closed, downing Australia’s Monique Belovukovic in straight sets, 6-0, 6-2, to earn 25 ITF Juniors ranking points, the most she has gotten since joining the circuit this year.
With her 40 points from the two tournaments in Fiji, Lee now has 50 ranking points in singles. She bagged five each from tournaments in Guam and New Caledonia in May and June, respectively. In the doubles, her points remain at 15, giving her combined ranking points of 53.75.
Lee, in an email to Saipan Tribune, admitted that breaking the Top 1,000 barrier gave her more confidence to challenge higher-ranked players.
“When I was about 1,000 (ranking) something, I was kind of scared playing with Top 100 or 1,000. But now that I am at No. 780, I have more courage to face players ranked in the 500s,” said Lee, who is still in Fiji to join a few more competitions.
