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Lee targets Top 3 finish in Australia
After her successful campaign in last month’s Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji, the CNMI’s Carol Lee is aiming for another notable performance in Australia later this year.
“I began practicing again last week after my dad (Dong Min Lee) returned to Saipan. I need to train harder because I expect to play against a lot of tough U14 players from Australia and New Zealand this December,” said Lee. “I will try my very best to make it to the Top 3 of each competition in Australia.”
The 13-year-old player picked up her rackets back and resumed her training session with her father less than two weeks after conquering the girls U16 singles championship in the POJC. She was unbeaten in the singles event in the regional competition and winning the division championship made her the first player in the Pacific Oceania to notch three age group titles in three straight years. The Saipan Community School student took the U12 singles plum in 2013 and the U14 crown last year.
Her victory in Fiji last month also earned her a slot on the Pacific Oceania Touring Team that will be playing in a series of tournaments in the Land Down Under at the end of the year.
“I am not sure how many tournaments are we going to join so I just have to be ready in each competition. I will continue practicing until December,” said Lee, who trains at Kanoa Resort.
Lee was also in Australia last year and claimed the girls U12 singles championship in the 2014 Australia Post Margaret Court Cup held at the Albury Grasscourts in Albury, New South Wales. She stood out in her first tournament after pulling off an upset over top-ranked Kelly Gilmour of Australia in the finals, 6-1. 6-3.
Pacific Oceania’s highest-ranked player (No. 780) in the ITF Juniors Circuit made it back-to-back against Gilmour after winning their finals rematch in the 2014 Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championships at the Wodonga Tennis Centre in Victoria.
