M&M girls dominate Fall Classic

Audrey Motto succeeded good friend Kanani Ashraf as princess of the girl’s 14-and-under division, while Thea Minor has slowly emerged as the netter to watch after topping the girl’s 10-and-unders during the Fall Classic Tennis Championships at the American Memorial Park tennis courts Sunday.

Motto made the Northern Marianas Islands Tennis Association-organized event an opportune time to step out of the shadows of Ashraf, who left Saipan for Hawaii last week, and had a dominating run to the finals, where she handily beat an out-of-sink Lila Mailman in straights set.

The Whispering Palms School student raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set, as a seemingly disinterested Mailman was reduced to lofting the tennis ball as high as she could but with little success.

Mailman showed what she was capable of when she held serve in the sixth game but it was too little, too late and, at best, only momentarily delayed Motto from capturing the first set.

After wrapping up the first in seven games, Motto went back to work in the second but was challenged by a more inspired Mailman. Both junior netters fought tooth and nail for each point.

Mailman tried to make up for her so-so performance in the previous set, while Motto wanted to finish what she started. Mailman had some success off Motto’s not-so-great returns but at the end of the contest, it was clear that Motto was the better player that day and took the second set and eventually the match in a score of 6-1, 6-3.

Motto advanced to the finals after an easy 6-0, 6-1 win over athletic Camryn Mosley, while Mailman reached the championship round after getting the better of Vivian Lee in a tightly fought semis match 7-6 (7-5), 6-0.

Minor, for her part, showed the junior tennis program of the Commonwealth is in good hands after breezing to the championship of the girl’s 10-and-under age group.

Facing Amy Hudkins in the finals, Minor made all the early afternoon practice sessions with mom, Joy, and little sister, Theecel, worth it by winning in a score of 6-1.

She also coasted in the semis, beating Melody Johnson 6-2. Minor debuted with a 6-0 win over Rachelle Kim. Hudkins made it to the finals following a 6-0 win over Gabrielle Race.

Minor made it two-for-two in the tournament, pairing with Theecel to win the girl’s 10-and-under doubles division. The Minors won the championship after defeating Race and Johnson on a count of 6-2.

In the 14-and-under doubles, Mailman got a measure of revenge when she teamed up with Lee to beat Motto and Mosley 6-2, 6-2.