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Sinclair jumps to No. 69 in world rankings
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Posted on Feb 28 2019
The CNMI’s Colin Sinclair made a big leap in the ITF World rankings (singles), moving to No. 69 after his title conquest in the $15,000 Claremont Club Pro Classic in California early this month.
Sinclair barged into the Top 100 (as of Feb. 25) after earning 100 points for beating Frenchman Lucas Poullain, 6-3, 7-6, in the finals of the hard court tournament played from Feb. 5 to 10. He jumped 60 notches in the leaderboard, as he was at No. 129 before he competed in the M15 event.
The 24-year-old is the lone Pacific Oceania player to make it to the Top 100 and the first to win a singles title in a pro tournament. He worked his way up to the ladder just two months into the season and after receiving the 2019 International Player Grand Slam Grant from the Grand Slam Development Fund.
After his first singles championship, the Commonwealth player competed in the Westward Look Pro Tennis Classic in Tuczon, Arizona and made it to the quarterfinals of the singles play. Then earlier last season, he had five straight runner-up finishes in Australia (two), Belgium (two), and Tunisia (one). Sinclair has 546 ranking points in singles, getting 90 each from the two events in the Land Down Under, 122 from Belgium, 60 from Tunisia, and the remaining 84 from seven other ITF World competitions in Asia, Oceania, Europe, and the U.S. ITF World events are stepping stones for Grand Slam tournaments and other higher pro contests.
Meanwhile, Sinclair is playing in the $25,000 Albury Tennis International in Australia and advanced to the quarterfinals of the doubles event. Sinclair partnered with Luke Jacob Gamble of the U.S. and they outlasted Australia’s Dayne Kelly and Dustry Boyer last Tuesday, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 10-2, to move to the Round of 8. In the quarterfinals today, Sinclair and Gamble are scheduled to take on another Aussie tandem in Thomas Fancutt and James Frawley.
Sinclair also entered the singles event and won the opening set of his match against Japan’s Issei Okamura, 7-6 (5) before the latter swept the last two, 6-2, 6-4, to steal the victory.
