Minor stuns top-seeded foe in Australia

Thea Minor caught a big fish in Australia after pulling off an upset over the top-ranked player in the girls U16 singles event of the 2012 Australia Post Margaret Court Cup last Monday.

Minor swept No. 1 seed Marta Brzozowska of Victoria at the Wodonga Tennis Centre, 6-1, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals of the 12-player draw. The victory was the second in a row for the CNMI junior player, as she also prevailed over New South Wales’ Sarah Mitchell in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, during the opening round match last Sunday. The 16-year-old Brzozowska drew a bye in the opening round and could not get her game going against Minor.

The twin wins put Minor in a semis duel against doubles teammate Annie Shannon of Fiji. Shannon went on to stop Minor’s winning streak. The Fiji netter took the first set easily, 6-3, but Minor gave her a good fight in the second set before losing, 5-7, after almost two hours of play.

Minor was then forced to play in the battle for third place against fourth-ranked Isabella Spring yesterday and dropped another heartbreaker. Spring won the first set, 6-4, but Minor came back big in the second set with a 6-2 triumph. The third set was a back-and-forth match with Minor running out of gas and losing the extended duel, 8-10.

Meanwhile, Minor and Shannon were undefeated after three games and are favored to top the girls U16 doubles.

The Oceania ITF Touring Team members were first pitted against Brzozowska and New South Wales’ Lauren Smileski last Monday and prevailed via walkover. Next up for the visiting pair were fellow Touring Team players Alesi Molotii of Tuvalu and Lorish Puluspene of Papua New Guinea and Minor and Shannon emerged victorious in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 11-9.

Minor and Shannon’s second match was played at 4pm last Monday and lasted for one and a half hour. Then less than an hour after getting their second win, the CNMI-Fiji team dueled Victoria’s Priscilla Dawson and Julia Stutsel and won after only one hour and 13 minutes, 6-2, 6-2.

Only five pairs are entered in the girls U16 doubles and Minor and Shannon were scheduled to play their last game in the round-robin tournament against New Caledonia’s Assaya Trimari and Spring yesterday afternoon. Results of that match were unavailable at press time, but a win would have given Shannon and Minor the doubles championship.

Also scheduled to be played yesterday was the U16 singles title match between Shannon and Molotii.