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Lee moves up; Tan, Heras join ITF Juniors ranking list
Tania Tan, seen here in action during the 2016 CNMI National Junior Championships held in April at the AMP tennis courts, earned ITF Juniors ranking points.
(Roselyn B. Monroyo)
The CNMI has two more players on the ITF Juniors ranking list, while Carol Lee continued to climb up to the ladder.
Tania Tan and Isabel Heras received their ranking points from the Open Junior BNP PARIBAS de Nouvelle-Caledonie held in Noumea, New Caledonia last month to join Lee on the elite roster of U18 players in the world.
Lee, who finished the 2015 season at No. 748 and was still in the 700 list when she, Tan, and Heras left Saipan to compete in a series of tournaments in Fiji and New Caledonia, is now at No. 510 ((based on the June 27, 2016 ranking list posted at the ITF Juniors website). The 14-year-old added 20 ranking points to her credit following a finals appearance in the 2016 Oceania Open Junior Championships in Fiji last week. Lee challenged No. 1 seed Kaitlin Staines of Australia in the singles title match and lost, 4-6, 1-6 for another runner-up finish in an ITF Juniors ranking tournament.
Lee’s other second place finish was recorded in the Open Junior BNP PARIBAS de Nouvelle-Caledonie as she also faced a Land Down Under bet in Lisa Mays, who notched a 6-4, 6-3 victory over the CNMI player. Lee now has a 115 rankings points (combined), getting 105 in singles and 40 in doubles. She gained 5 points in doubles (with Ayana Rengiil of Palau) in the Oceania contest in Fiji and 15 (runner-up) in the New Caledonia event.
Meanwhile, Tan and Heras got 5 ranking points each for winning in the Round of 16 against Australia’s Australia’s Luciana Kunkel and Mia Katharina Savio in the Grade 5 tournament in Noumea, 7-6 (4), 6-3. The 15-year-old Tan, who competed in six singles tournament and five doubles beginning last year before earning ranking points, is at No. 2, 214. The ITF Juniors ranking was an advanced gift to Tan, who celebrated her birthday last July 1.
Heras, who began her campaign in the ITF Juniors just this May, shared the same rankings. She recorded two wins in the doubles as part of the Pacific Oceania Touring Team after teaming up with the U.S.’ Bryn Johnson and prevailing against Japan’s Sachiho Sho and Kaede Tada, 6-2, 6-2, in the Round of 32 in the 2016 Oceania Open Junior Championships. The 15-year-old Heras, however, dropped her and Johnson’s quarterfinal match to miss more ITF Juniors ranking points.
