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Minor loses Junior ITF debut
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Posted on Jun 21 2011
CNMI tennis player Thea Minor faltered in her debut in a Junior ITF event after bowing in the second round of the 2011 Open Junior BNP Paribas of New Caledonia in Noumea last Monday.
Minor was in the main draw of the girls U18 singles and drew a bye in the first round before losing to New Zealand’s Danielle Feneridis in the Round of 32 at the Ligue Caledonienne de Tennis Courts, 6-0, 6-0.
The defeat foiled Minor’s bid to become the first female player from the CNMI to gain Junior ITF ranking points
The tournament in New Caledonia is a Grade 5 event that offers 30 Junior ITF ranking points to the champion in singles, 20 for runner-up, 15 for semifinalists, 10 for quarterfinalists, and five for Round of 16 qualifiers. It is the same tournament that gave Ji Hoon Heo ranking points, making him the first CNMI netter to enter the Junior ITF rankings.
Minor was unseeded in the New Caledonia tournament and faced the fifth-seeded Feneridis, who is ranked No. 510 and on her second year in the Junior ITF Circuit, earning a combined 83.75 ranking points (doubles and singles).
The CNMI bet also joined the doubles main draw and teamed up with Papua New Guinea’s Lorish Puluspene. The duo eventually lost to Australia’s Alexcia Hallal and Lara Palmer, 6-1, 6-3.
After the tournament in New Caledonia, Minor will be returning to Fiji to join another Junior ITF event—the 2011 Air Pacific South Pacific Open Junior Championships that will run from June 27 to July 3.
Before the competition in New Caledonia, Minor was in Guam for the 2011 North Pacific Qualifying Tournament and helped the CNMI dominate the five-day competition. She won both the singles and doubles events in the girls U18 division and then left Guam Friday night and arrived in Fiji on Saturday before heading to New Caledonia one day before joining her first Junior ITF tournament.
Minor was the lone junior player from Micronesia to compete in New Caledonia.
