‘Most exciting year ever for tennis in CNMI’

Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association president Jeff Race in action during the recent 2023 SIS Student Council Tennis Tournament at the American Memorial Park tennis courts. (MARK RABAGO)

Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Association president Jeff Race said 2022 was a banner year for tennis in the CNMI and not just because of the Northern Marianas Pacific Mini Games.

The longtime CNMI national tennis coach proudly proclaimed that “2022 was the most exciting year ever for tennis in the CNMI in many ways.”

Race said top billing goes to the three gold and one bronze medals won by the CNMI national tennis team in the quadrennial event.

Tennis contributed heavily in the U.S. territory’s 16-gold, 13-silver, and nine-bronze medal haul in the Mini Games with ATP Tour veteran Colin Sinclair prevailing in the men’s singles and teaming up with Robbie Schorr in the men’s doubles finals win. Sinclair, Schorr, Bobby Cruz, and Colin Ramsey also topped the men’s team event, while Sinclair and Isabel Herras finished third in the mixed doubles. 

The CNMI Sports Hall of Fame inductee said 2022 also saw the CNMI’s LaHunn Lam make history by becoming the youngest player ever to suit up in Wimbledon after the then 12-year-old took part in the inaugural U14 competition. 

Race also said CNMI netters made their home islands proud by again dominating the North Pacific Regional Championships last July.

“Our juniors also had a fantastic NPRC with 17 of the 19 players we sent to it going on to compete in the Pacific Oceania Junior Championships in Fiji.” 

Qualifying automatically to Fiji were boys 16’s Minsoo “David” Kwon, girls 16’s Serin Chung and Savita Sikkel, boys 14’s La Hunn Lam, Nason Wessel, Henry Choi, and Siwoo Lee, girls 14’s Hoo Wang, Hannah Chae, and Anna Kwon, boys 12’s Yutaka Kadokura, Ian Chae, Ryan Choi, and Jihun Park, and girls 12’s Lina Tsukagoshi. Later, Irin Chung and June Yu were granted wildcard entries by the Oceania Tennis Federation to the POJC.

Race also said Sinclair also improved his ATP ranking from 700+ to around 450. 

And a nice offshoot of the CNMI’s hosting of the Mini Games last year, the tennis courts at the American Memorial Park underwent a much-needed makeover.

“As a legacy of the PMG we had our courts at AMP resurfaced, a benefit that will last several years,” he said.

On the downside, Race said 2022 also saw the CNMI’s very successful junior tennis program going into a forced hiatus due to lack of a training facility. 

“The biggest challenge has been that our junior program has had to endure a major setback. In July 2022 the major tennis training program ended when no courts were available for training. The NMI’s top priority needs to be the development of a national tennis training center,” he said.

Race earlier lamented the downsizing of tennis courts from four to two for the planned $21.2-million makeover of the Oleai Sports Complex.

This, after the Office of Planning and Development changed the original plan and instead opted for only two International Tennis Federation tennis courts with associated facilities such as warm-up walls, fencing, and bleachers.