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Carol survives scare
Carol Lee is in the quarterfinal round of the Australian Open 2018 Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff Tournament after surviving her first round foe yesterday in Zhuhai, China. (Contributed Photo)
CNMI junior player Carol Lee was tested to her limits in her debut match in the Australian Open 2018 Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff Tournament in Zhuhai, China
Lee needed three sets to dispose of the unseeded Sheena Masuda-Karrasch of Hong Kong and advance to the quarterfinals of the 15-player field yesterday at the Zhuhai Hengqin International Tennis Centre in Guangdong Province. The No. 4 seed Commonwealth player dropped the closely fought opening set, 6-7 (5), but avoided an early exit when she pulled off a 7-5 triumph in the equally tough second. Then in the deciding third set, Lee still met strong resistance from Masuda-Karrasch before eking out another 7-5 victory.
With the world No. 212 Lee surviving the Hong Kong bet, she arranged a Round of 8 duel against China’s Zhuoma Ni Ma. The unranked and unseeded Ma recorded one of the three upsets in the opening round of the tournament after ousting world No. 324 and No. 7 seed Meiling Wang, 6-4, 6-2.
Qianhui Tang, another unranked player from China, registered the other surprised victory at the lower half of the draw following her 6-2, 6-1 win over world No. 228 and compatriot Keyi Zhou. Tang will now be pitted against world No. 153 and No. 2 seed Cody Wong, who eliminated China’s Chengyiyi Yuan, 6-4, 6-3.
Cody’s sister and No. 6 seed Jenny is also in the quarterfinals after sweeping China’s Rouli Ye, 6-1, 6-2. Jenny’s Round of 8 opponent is No. 1 seed Jiaqi Wang, who drew a bye in the opening round. The other quarterfinal pairing at the top half of the draw will have No. 3 and China’s Zheng Hua Xiao battling the unseeded Fangran Tian. Xiao eased past compatriot Ruoyu Cheng, 6-2, 6-3, to move into the quarterfinals opposite Tian, who boosted out No. 8 Cong Ying Zhao, 7-5, 6-3.
The winner of the girls U18 singles draw will gain entry to next month’s Australian Open (junior division).
