Conatsu, Ji Min clinch titles in Aussie tourney

CNMI junior players Ji Min Woo and Conatsu ruled the consolation draw in their respective events in the 2017 Margaret Court Cup in Australia.

Woo won the pool after sweeping two opponents yesterday at the Albury Grasscourts in Albury, New South Wales. The Grace Christian Academy student first defeated Australia’s Jay Coxon, 6-2, 6-0, in their semis showdown at the upper half of the consolation draw. With his Final Four win, Woo was then paired against another Aussie bet in Nicholas George Miloi, who made it to the finals following a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Isaac King.

In the finals, Woo and Miloi went back and forth in the first set with the former pulling some tricks from his bag to eke out a 7-6 (6) triumph. The tough win gave Woo momentum in the second set, which he easily won, 6-2, to top the pool, which featured players who missed the third round of the main draw. The CNMI player prevailed in his first round match in the main draw after blanking Australia’s Zachary David Reid in their opening match, 6-0, 6-0. Woo was then booted out in the second round by No. 3 Cooper Glen Wilkinson, 2-6, 2-6, dropping the former to the consolation draw.

Woo capitalized on his second chance, sweeping his last five games in the singles event of the tournament named after Margaret Court, a legendary Australian tennis player who still holds the record in Grand Slam singles titles (24). Woo’s three other victories were against Australia George Georgakas, 6-0, 6-3, Fiji’s Storm Cornish, 6-0, 6-2, and main draw No. 9 seed Etienne Marais Horak, 6-2, 6-2.

The 12-year-old Woo also played in the doubles event yesterday, but he and fellow CNMI player Seung Jin Paik fell to No. 1 seeds Charlie Camus and Wilkinson in the quarterfinals. Though they lost, the Commonwealth players forced their top-ranked foes to an extended game after winning the second set, 6-3. Camus and Wilkinson took the first set in a similar score and avoided the upset axe of Woo and Paik after posting a 10-3 win in the super tiebreaker third set.

In the girls U14 consolation draw, Conatsu won all her three games yesterday to earn the championship in the group. She defeated Abbey Colbourne, 7-5, 6-0, and Natasha Phillips-Edgar, 6-2, 5-7, 10-4, in her back-to-back morning matches to move into the finals. In the title match in the afternoon, Conatsu dominated Lara Wighton, 6-2, 6-2.

Meanwhile, from Albury, Conatsu along with her sibling Coume, Paik, Woo, Ken Song, and Malikawa Miyawaki headed to Victoria yesterday to play in the 2017 Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championships.

The grasscourt event will be held at the Wodonga Tennis Centre with the first round matches to start today. Again, Woo and Paik will compete in the U12 singles and doubles, while the four other CNMI players are entered in the U14 division contests. The six CNMI players are in the Land Down Under competing as part of the elite Pacific Oceania Touring Team.