Caxjigan, Lee stun seeded foes

The CNMI’s Chris Cajigan and Carol Lee upstaged their respective seeded opponents in the 2014 Victorian Junior Grasscourt Championships yesterday at the Wodonga Tennis Centre in Victoria.

Lee’s upset axe is still working, as she surprised second-ranked Caitlyn Portela in their second round match in the girls U12 singles, 6-1, 6-4. Lee, who stunned four seeded foes in New South Wales en route to a title win in the 2014 Australia Post Margaret Court Cup, met Portela for the second time and reasserted her might against the favored Australian. Portela was also seeded second in the tournament in NSW when she was eliminated by the CNMI junior player after only two sets, 6-2, 6-0.

With her second win against Portela, Lee advanced to the quarterfinals against fellow Pacific Oceania ITF Touring Team player Naia Guitton of Tahiti. Guitton moved into the Round of 8 after ousting the No. 5 pick Amy Stevens, 6-1, 6-1. Other quarterfinalists at the bottom half of the 23-player field are No. 3 Hana Kim and No. 7 Mia Repac, who both lost to Lee in the 2014 Australia Post Margaret Court Cup. In the upper bracket, the top-ranked Kelly Gilmour is in the quarterfinals, along with the No. 8 Charlie Hargreaves, No. 4 Angelina Teakaraanga, and No. 6 Hayla Rafei.

In the girls U12 doubles event is also in the quarterfinal round with the tandem of Lee and Kim bagging one of the Round of 8 berths. Lee and Kim marched into the next round after sweeping the Japanese pair of Mirano Osaki and Honoka Yoshimura, 6-0, 6-1, in the top half of the bracket. With the victory, Kim and Lee arranged a quarterfinal duel against the top-ranked duo of Gilmour Teakaraanga and results of their game last night were unavailable at press time.

In the boys U16 singles, the event had its Round 2 matches yesterday with Cajigan pulling off an upset against the fourth-ranked Josiah Roach. Cajigan, who advanced to the main draw after earning two wins in the qualifying tournament last Wednesday, needed three sets to stun his favored opponent. Roach drew first blood, 2-6, but failed to get the job done, as Cajigan swept the last two sets, 6-1, 6-4.

With the first round upset, Cajigan was pitted against fellow unseeded player Andres Urrego-Varon in Round 2 yesterday afternoon. Urrego-Varon had an easier opening round assignment, eliminating Harley McCarthy after only two sets, 6-1, 6-0.

In the boys U16 doubles, Cajigan missed a second round trip when he and teammate Ainsleigh Timms lost to Graham Hawkins and Krishan Raju, 5-7, 2-6.

Michael Ren, the third CNMI player competing in Victoria, also had mixed fortunes in the boys U12 singles, winning his doubles game and dropping his singles match.

Ren partnered with Patrick Findlay and they shut out Talen Andrews and Lachlan Graetz, 6-0, 6-0, to advance in the quarterfinals against the top-ranked pair of Timothy Karpinski and Thomas Pavlekovich-Smith. In the singles event, Ren, who survived a qualifying tournament, bowed to No. 5 pick Alex Kevill in the opening round of the main draw, 0-6, 1-6.