Carol returns to Africa for ITF Juniors events

Carol Lee, seen here getting ready to serve in a local tournament, is in Africa to compete in ITF Juniors tournaments and train at the ITF/CAT facility in Morocco. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Four-time Northern Marianas Amateur Sports Association/Tan Siu Lin Foundation Female Student Athlete of the Year Carol Lee headed back to Africa to participate in two tournaments under the ITF Juniors Circuit.

Dong Min Lee, Carol’s father, told Saipan Tribune that his daughter went to Africa early this month after training at the Oceania Tennis Federation/ITF regional facility in Fiji and was scheduled to join high-level competitions to boost her ranking—which as of April 23 stands at No. 241. Lee, who saw action in several tournaments in Morroco last year, earned her highest ranking (No. 178) on Jan. 1, 2018.

The CNMI junior player’s first stop in three week-long African trip was Tunisia. She was entered in both the singles and doubles events of last week’s ITF/CAT Juniors Megrine in Tunis and split her opening matches. Lee slipped past Germany’s Luisa Meyer Auf De Heide in the Round of 32 of their singles match in the Grade 3 tournament despite losing the first set, 1-6. The 16-year-old player recovered in the second set with a 6-1 triumph and completed the comeback with a 6-2 victory in the deciding third set.

Lee then dueled Morocco’s Salma Louidili in the second round and bowed out of competition after giving her foe a tough fight. Louidili eked out a 7-5, 6-4 win over the CNMI bet. Lee and partner Salsa Aher of India also fell to Gabon’s Ella Avomo and Burundi’s Aisha Niyunkuru in the opener of the doubles event. Lee and Aher won the opening set, 6-4, but missed the victory when Avomo and Niyunkuru escaped with a 7-5 win in the second and also prevailed in the super-tiebreaker third set 10-6.

After the tournament in Tunisia, Lee is scheduled to leave for Morocco this weekend to compete in the Mediterranée Avenir—a Grade 1 event that will be played in a clay court from May 7 to 12 in Casablanca. She is entered in the main draw of both the doubles and singles divisions. The competition features players in the Top 200 rankings with Denmark’s Clara Tauson the highest-ranked player in the draw at No. 11.

Lee joined the same tournament in Casablanca, winning her opening match (Round of 64) in the singles and losing in the doubles (Round of 32). While waiting for the games to start, the CNMI player will also work out at the ITF/CAT training facility in Morocco.