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Lee wins opener in Europe
The CNMI’s Carol Lee played her first game in Europe and had a winning debut in the 36th Torneo Bayer di Salsomaggiore.
Lee teamed up with Ecuador’s Mell Elizabeth Reasco Gonzales and they swept the Italian pair of Guilia Martinelli and Emma Valleta, 6-3, 6-4, last Monday (Tuesday morning on Saipan) to march into the quarterfinal round of the claycourt tournament being held at the Tennis Club Salsomaggiore Via del Lavoro in Salsomaggiore, Italy.
The Commonwealth player and her partner are seeded No. 3 in the 16-team doubles field and will have their quarterfinals game today. Lee and Gonzales will meet the winner in the first round match between Matilde Mariani and Matilde Paoletti of Italy and the Chinese-Italian pair of Siija Wei and Rubina Marta De Ponti.
Lee and Gonzales are at the top half of the draw and another victory may set them up for a semis showdown against tournament favorites and No. 1 seed Carlota Martinez Cirez of Spain and Federica Rossi of Italy.
The 36th Torneo Bayer di Salsomaggiore is a Grade 2 event under the Juniors ITF World and marks the start of Lee’s more than a month campaign in Europe. She will play in another tournament in Italy and two in Belgium before heading back to Morocco to train at the regional facility there.
A Grade 2 event is ranked No. 5 in the level of competition in the ITF World behind Grand Slam/Junior Olympics, Junior Masters, Grade A, and Grade 1. It awards 120 world ranking points to the doubles champions and 160 to the singles winner.
So far, Lee has 345 ranking points (combined doubles and singles) and is ranked No. 126 in the world, getting her recent results (100 points) in Morocco in March this year after ruling the singles competition in the J3- ITF/CAT North African Circuit.
Lee will also play in the singles event of the 36th Torneo Bayer di Salsomaggiore and was scheduled to duel De Ponti in the first round yesterday. The CNMI player is seeded No. 8, while her Italian opponent made it to the main draw after winning three matches in the qualifying tournament over the weekend.
