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Carol reaches semis of Aussie tourney
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Posted on Aug 26 2019
Carol Lee, seen here in an ITF Juniors tournament hosted on Saipan, made it to the semifinals of the doubles event in the 2019 Australian Winter International in Tweed Heads, New South Wales. (Saipan Tribune)
Carol Lee made it to the Final Four of the doubles event in the 2019 Australian Winter International in Tweed Heads, New South Wales.
The CNMI junior player teamed up with China’s Zongyu Li and they defeated Australia’s Jasmine Adams and Cassidy Mataia in the quarterfinals, 7-5, 6-2, to set up a semis showdown against another Aussie pair—Olivia Gadecki and Amy Stevens. The No. 3 seed Australians moved into the semis following a 6-0, 6-1 triumph over their compatriots Meeka Marshalls and Mia Tsoukalas.
Gadecki and Stevens then went on to stun the No. 1 seed Lee and Li in the semis, 6-4, 6-1, and complete the upset in the doubles event after slipping past No. 2 Roopa Bains and Natasha Russell in the finals last Saturday, 3-6, 7-5, 10-8.
Despite losing in the semis to the eventual winners, Lee managed to improve her performance in the same tournament. Last year, the Commonwealth bet and Australia’s Ciara Di Tommaso dropped their opening match in the doubles event, bowing to Jemma Carbis and Lexie Weir, 3-6, 2-6.
Lee also had a better showing in the singles event this year. She made it to the quarterfinals after prevailing in her first two matches. Lee, who was eliminated in the Round of 16 in the same Grade 2 event last year, won over Australia’s Cyan Sun last Wednesday, 6-1, 6-4, and Culley, 6-3, 6-4, before losing to Talia Gibson, also from the Land Down Under. Gibson eked out a 7-6 (6) victory in the first set of their quarterfinal game, while Lee notched a 6-2 triumph in the second. The Aussie then earned her second straight win over Lee after taking the deciding third set, 6-4. Gibson, who earlier defeated Lee in the semis of the 2019 Oceania Closed Junior Championships in Fiji, ended up topping the 2019 Australian Winter International after outclassing Gadecki in the finals, 6-3, 6-3.
