Colin Sinclair wins third ITF Tour singles title

The CNMI’s Colin Sinclair in action in the SoCal Pro Series M15 Rancho Santa Fe Tournament in California last week.(LEXIE WANNINGER)

The CNMI’s Colin Sinclair won his third singles title in the ITF Tour after taking home the championship of the Rancho Santa Fe Tournament in California last week.

The 28-year-old won the SoCal Pro Series M15 tournament after vanquishing Frenchman Jaimee Floyd Angele in the finals, 6-3, 6-2.

“I’m very excited to have won my third singles title on the ITF Tour. It feels like the culmination of a lot of hard work over these past 18 months. This year I’ve played some good tennis and have won early rounds in tournaments but haven’t been able to sustain my level throughout. So it’s been very satisfying to play well and cap it off with a win,” said the son of former CNMI athletes Peter and Kathryn Sinclair.

The 219th-ranked men’s doubles player in the ITF Tour also said he’s happy with the championship in the Rancho Santa Fe Tournament because it allowed him to crack into the Top 400 of the men’s singles rankings.

“The win also gets me into the top 400 in singles for the first time in my career. This will help me play in the next level of tournaments at the ATP Challenger level.”

The 6’2” netter, who won three gold medals and a bronze in the 2022 Pacific Mini Games in the CNMI, thanked everyone in his support group for this latest achievement. 

“I’ve been very fortunate to have great people around me and all my success can be attributed to them. I’ve been very lucky to have my dad travel with me this year. In tennis you are almost guaranteed to lose every week so to have his positivity and enthusiasm on tour has been a blessing. Thank you to Danny Llarenas and Daniel Tudorache for helping me improve on the mental and physical sides of my game. Thank you to coach Jeff [Race] for all your insights and coaching and for always tuning in to my matches. And thank you to the Tan family for the support in helping me chase my dreams.”

In the Rancho Santa Fe Tournament, the third-seeded Sinclair began his campaign by beating American Ethan Schiffman, 7-6 (3), 6-3, in the first round.

He followed that up by defeating another American, Gianni Ross, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (2).

Canada’s Juan Carlos Aguilar was next and Sinclair easily dispatched him in a score of 6-3, 6-0. In the semis, he faced off against Noah Schachter of the U.S., who earlier beat No. 1 seed Aidan Mchug of Great Britain, 6-3, 7-6 (4).

Sinclair avoided the upset ax and advanced to the finals with a 6-3, 7-5 victory. He then won the championship with the aforementioned straight sets win over Angele.

The championship in the Rancho Santa Fe Tournament adds to Sinclair’s two previous titles in 2021 in Guatemala and in 2019 in Claremont, California. Sinclair has also won nine doubles titles throughout his career, including three this year.