Ji Min, Conatsu advance

Ji Min Woo eyes a return from the baseline during a local tournament last year at the Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan courts. (Contributed Photo)

The CNMI’s Ji Min Woo and Conatsu Kaga marched into the semis and quarterfinals of their respective events in the consolation bracket in the 2017 Margaret Court Cup in Australia.

Woo, who earned a 1-1 record in the main draw of the boys U12 singles, notched three victories in the consolation group to take a Final Four seat, while Conatsu also had a pair of wins in the girls U14 singles to move into the quarterfinals and make up for her super-tiebreaker loss in the first round of the main draw.

Twelve year-old Woo topped Australia’s George Georgakas, 6-0, 6-3, and then had a similar straight sets triumph over Fiji’s Storm Cornish, 6-0, 6-2, to march into the quarterfinals. Woo made it three in a row and booked a semis ticket when he swept Etienne Marais Horak, 6-2, 6-2.

In the Final Four, Woo will be up against another Aussie bet Jay Coxon, who defeated Dylan Guler, 6-1, 7-5; Leo Simmons, 6-1, 6-7, 12-10; and Maita Munyimani, 6-3, 6-3, to move one step closer to a finals appearance. Coxon and Woo will battle for the finals berth at the upper half of the consolation draw today at 8:30am (7:30 Saipan time) at the Albury Grasscourts in Albury, New South Wales

Earlier in the third round, Horak foiled an all-CNMI Round of 8 duel when he eliminated Woo’s doubles teammate Seung Jin Paik, 6-4, 6-1. Paik got a Round 3 slot following his domination of Australia’s Christian Muller, 6-1, 6-0.

Despite getting the boot in the consolation draw, Paik will still play in the tournament, as he and Woo are scheduled to challenge No. 1 seeds Charlie Camus and Cooper Glenn Wilkinson in the doubles quarterfinal round today at 1:30pm.

In other results, Conatsu Kaga eased past Australia’s Emily Beetson, 6-1, 6-0, and then outlasted Sarah Thomas, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6, to barge into the quarterfinal round of the girls U14 consolation draw. Conatsu will try to gain a semis berth when she takes on Australia’s Abbey Coulbourne today at 8:30am.

Conatsu’s younger sister, Coume, also played in the consolation draw, but bowed to Cassie Pleming in the second round despite drawing first blood. Coume waltzed past Pleming in the first set, 6-1, before losing the last two, 4-6, 8-10.

Meanwhile, Malika Miyawaki missed in her semis bid in the main draw of the girls U14 singles after falling to the top-seeded Ciara Di Tommaso, 0-6, 2-6. Joining Di Tommaso in the Final Four were Joy Andreou, Tamara Bajagic, and Eloise Swarbrick, who are all seeded in the tournament.