Carol steps up in Fed Cup

The CNMI’s Carol Lee, second left, joins captain Patrice Cotti of Tahiti and her teammates for a group photo before playing against Hong Kong in the 2017 Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II last week in Tajikistan. (Contributed Photo)

The CNMI’s Carol Lee played in her first singles match in the 2017 Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II and made the most out of this opportunity to lift Pacific Oceania to a 3-0 victory over Singapore last weekend in Tajikistan.

Pacific Oceania fielded Lee in the Singles 1 event opposite Lynelle En Tong Lim, as Samoa’s Steffi Carruthers had to leave the Dushanbe Central Stadium to go to the embassy and fix her visa problems. The 15-year-old went on to pay back the trust captain Patrice Cotti of Tahiti gave her by sweeping Lim.

Lee had an emphatic 6-0 victory in the opening set, which she wrapped up in just 25 minutes after winning 11 of her 16 first serve points and all 12 of her second serve. In the second set, Lim put up a good fight against the Commonwealth player, however Lee showed poise in the homestretch to take the 6-4 triumph. Again, Lee relied on her strong service game to foil the Singaporean’s bid to force the Singles 1 event to a third set.

Then less than two hours after her sweep against Lim and following Abigail Tere-Apisah’s victory over Y-Kit Nicole Tan, 6-7 (7), 6-0, 6-0, Lee returned to the court to team up with New Caledonia’s Mayka Zima. Lee picked up where she left off after partnering with Zima in easing past Angela Shan Min Lim and Charmaine Seah in the first set, 6-1. The Pacific Oceania pair got the win in the opening set after only 22 minutes, but failed to keep its momentum in the second, allowing the Singaporean duo to escape with a 7-5 win and force the deciding third set.

Seah and Angela Lim lived for another day as they got more points in their second serve, 23-9. However, there’s no denying Pacific Oceania from sweeping its last game in the tournament, as Lee and Zima came out smoking in the final set, shutting down their foes after only 27 minutes.

With the win against Singapore, Lee and company were ranked No. 5 (tied with New Zealand) out of the 12 countries that participated in the July 17 to 21 competition. Hong Kong, which handed Pacific Oceania the lone loss in the tournament, defeated Uzbekistan in the finals, 2-1, and is promoted to the elite Group 1, joining Japan, South Korea, China, Thailand, and India. Pacific Oceania will remain in Group II with Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Iran, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.