Lee boosts title bid in NZ

The CNMI’s Carol Lee, seen here playing in the 2016 Chuck E. Cheese’s ITF Junior Championships last year at the Rick Ninete Tennis Centre in Hagatna, Guam, is in the hunt for the singles and doubles crowns in a tournament in New Zealand. (Contributed Photo)

The CNMI’s Carol Lee is still in contention for the singles and doubles events in the Wilson Tennis Canterbury ITF as she has yet to lose a match at the Z Energy Wilding Park in Christchurch, New Zealand.

In the singles event, Lee won her first two games in the main draw to advance to the quarterfinal round. The No. 2 seed swept Australia’s Yasmin Glazbrook, 6-3, 6-1, in their second round match at the lower half of the draw last Tuesday and then had a similar straight sets victory against No. 13 Christy Robinson on New Zealand, 6-4, 6-2, yesterday to book a Round of 8 ticket.

In the quarterfinals, which will be played today, Lee will face the sixth-ranked Emilia Price of New Zealand. The Kiwi also prevailed in her first two matches to stay in the hunt for the singles crown. She downed South Korea’s Jiho Shin, 6-2, 6-4, and Australia’s Maggie Pearce, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Joining Price and Lee in the Round of 8 were the U.S.’ Skyler Marie Grace Grishuk, Malaysia’s Sarah and Uma Nayar, Australia’s Anastasia Berezov, New Zealand’s Oleksandra Kalachova, and Japan’s Koharu Niimi. Seven of the quarterfinalists are seeded players, while Berezov was the only unranked qualifier in the group.

In the doubles event, the Final Four features all seeded pairs, including Lee and her partner Mulan Kamoe of Fiji.

The Pacific Oceania Touring Team members are ranked fifth and drew a bye in the first round. Kamoe and Lee then defeated New Zealand’s Sophia Fry and Brooke Kenny in two sets, 6-2, 6-1, to move into the quarterfinals. The Kiwi duo came off a tough 6-2, 6-7 (3), 10-4 triumph over compatriots Tessa McCann and Lara McNaughten to earn the right to face Kamoe and Lee in the quarterfinals.

For their Round of 8 match, Lee and Kamoe picked up where they left off, eliminating Australia’s Tallulah Farrow and Kirijana Petreski after only two sets, 6-4, 6-2.

Next up for Lee and Kamoe are the No. 2 seeds Nina Paripovich and Price. The Aussies also did not drop a single set in their first two victories, topping New Zealand’s Dominique Matich-Reynolds and Belarus Ines Stephan, 6-1, 6-2, and compatriots Joy Andreou and Harmony Mitsos, 6-4, 6-2, to take a semis seat.

The other semis pairing will have the No. 7 ranked pair of Grishuk and New Zealand’s Holly Stewart dueling the No. 8 pair of Japan’s Yuna Ohashi and Shin. Grishuk and Stewart stunned No. 1 and siblings Sara and Uma Nayar in the quarterfinals, 4-6, 6-1, 10-2, while Ohashi and Shin also pulled off an upset against No. 3 Kalachova and Australia’s Sanyukta Singh, 6-4, 6-3.

The Wilson Tennis Canterbury ITF is a Grade 4 tournament and with Lee’s quarterfinals stint in the singles and semis in the doubles, she is already assured of ranking points from her first event in New Zealand this year.

Forty points will be awarded to the singles champion in the Wilson Tennis Canterbury ITF and 30 to the runner-up. The semifinalists will receive 20, and 15 and 10 to quarterfinalists and losers in Last 16. In the doubles, the champions will get 30, while runners-up will have 20. Fifteen and 10 ranking points are awarded to the semifinalists and quarterfinalists, respectively.

The 15-year-old Lee, who is currently ranked No. 404 in the world, has 105 points in singles and 50 in doubles before she headed to New Zealand early this month for a series of ITF Juniors tournaments. Lee will also see action in the 2017 Tecnifibre Tennis Central Championships and the NZ ITF Summer Championships 2017.