Lee wins debut in clay court in Morocco

Carol Lee is in Morocco and will be playing in the ITF/CAT North African Circuit at the Oceanic Club Casablancais in Casablance, starting on Monday. (Contributed Photo)

CNMI junior player Carol Lee had a winning debut in clay court after topping her first round foe in the 2017 Mediterranée Avenir last week at the Club Olympique Casablanca Tennis Centre in Casablanca, Morocco.

Lee was pitted against the host country’s Zainab Bendahhou in the opening round of the Grade 1 tournament and swept her opponent, 6-2, 6-1, to arrange a second round duel against the No. 15 ranked Clara Burel of France.

The world No. 100 Burel then defeated the No. 353 Lee in the first set, 6-3, but failed to finish the job early when the CNMI fought back in the second with a 6-2 victory. Burel eventually eliminated Lee after posting a 6-1 triumph in the deciding third set.

Despite getting the early boot, the 15-year-old Lee was not that disappointed with her performance.

“My second round game against a Top 100 player from France was not so bad. I went three sets against her and I’m proud that I competed well, especially in the second set,” Lee said.

“I saw a lot of good players playing like pros in this Grade 1 tournament. There are a lot of high-level competitors and challengers. The players are mostly from the Europe side, so I get to watch how Europeans play,” the CNMI player added.

No. 13 Yasmine Mansouri of France ruled the girls singles competition in the 48-player field after pulling off an upset over No. 3 Elysia Bolton of the U.S., 7-5, 6-1.

Meanwhile, after getting the feel of playing in clay court, Lee is much at ease in her second tournament in Morocco—the ITF/CAT North African Circuit.

The Grade 3 competition will start today and runs until Saturday at the Oceanic Club Casablancais.

Lee is in the main draw of the 32-player field, which will also feature majority of the players that saw action in the Mediterranée Avenir and others in the Top 400 rankings.

“My first time playing a tournament in a clay court made me feel more confident for my next tournament. I wish to get to Round 3 or in quarterfinals. Grade 3 in clay court still has a lot of good players, but I want to get as many points as I could and not to waste this opportunity,” Lee said.

The CNMI player has 120 singles points and 65 in doubles for a combined 136.25 points. She has been in Morroco since last month and training at the ITF/CAT Training Centre in Casablanca.