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Carol eyes better showing in Australia
CNMI junior player Carol Lee has moved on from a semis loss in the 2019 Oceania Closed Junior Championships and is aiming for a better finish in another high-level tournament this week.
Lee, who faltered in her bid for a return trip to the finals in last week’s Oceania Closed in Fiji after losing to Talia Gibson of Australia in a three-set semis match, is now in Australia to compete in the 2019 Australian Winter International in Tweed Heads, New South Wales.
“My opponent was a tough player to beat in semifinals. She used her tactics very well against me. My service game wasn’t effective to her as well. Even though I am disappointed I lost that match, I know what I need to work on and I can’t be disappointed too long because I have another ITF Juniors tournament coming up, and I have another chance,” said Lee.
The Australian Winter International is a Grade 2 event—the same level as Oceania Closed and awards 160 and 120 ranking points to the singles and doubles champions, respectively.
Lee, who is currently ranked No. 119, got 60 ranking points for her semis stint in the singles event of the Oceania Closed and 45 in the doubles. The Commonwealth player has a total of 335 points in singles and 320 in doubles, excluding the ones she earned in last week’s competition.
Lee is in the main draw of both the singles and doubles events of the Australian Winter International, which will start its qualifying games today. The main draw matches will kick off this Wednesday and games will run until Sunday.
The CNMI bet debuted in the Australian Winter International last year and made it to the Last 16 of the singles division and lost her opener in the doubles. Lee defeated Aussie Cyan Sun, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, and then lost to the latter’s compatriot Bojana Marinkov, 6-4, 6-7(7), 4-6, in the Round of 16. In the doubles, Lee and Chiara Di Tommaso of Australia were defeated by New Zealand’s Ema Miyaura and Jade Otway, 6-7 (6), 6-3, 10-5.
