Apisah makes PNG proud

PAPUA New Guinea Tennis Federation president Barbara Stubbings says Violet Apisah’s effort in advancing to the junior girls’ doubles final at the Australian Open was history-making with the 17-year-old giving the country’s tennis community something to cheer about.
“Violet created history by becoming the first Papua New Guinean to compete in a final event at a junior grand slam open tournament,” Stubbings said.
Apisah entered both the junior singles and doubles events of the open. In the singles event, she lost in the first round to 9th seed, Xiyu Wang (China) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
“Violet did well to come back and win the second set, forcing the match to three sets.”
In the doubles event, Apisah partnered with Lulu Sun of Switzerland.
The pairing was strong from the start, winning the first, second and quarterfinal rounds convincingly, to meet with the No.2 seeded team of Simona Waltert (Switzerland) and Xiyu Wang (China) in the semifinal.
The match did not go to plan, with Apisah and Sun losing the first set 0-6, following a dominant display from the No.2 seeded team.
Apisah and Sun did well to re-gather after the break, and came back strongly to win the second set 6-3, forcing the match into a match tiebreaker, where the first to 10 points wins.
Following a tough battle, Apisah and Sun overcame the second seeded team, winning the tiebreak set 10-7, setting up a finals match with the No.1 seeded team of En Shou Liang (Taiwan) and Xinyu Wang (China).
The first set of the final was a tough battle with both teams holding serve forcing the set into a tiebreak, which was won by the No.1 seeds 7-6(4).
Again the pairing of Apisah and Sun fought back to take the second set 6-4, forcing the match into a match tiebreak to 10 points.
Unfortunately for Apisah and Sun, the No.1 seeds were too strong all round, winning the tiebreak 10-5, and taking out the title of junior girls’ doubles champions for the 2018 Australian Open. “PNG Tennis is proud of Violet’s efforts in both the singles and doubles events at the Australian Open junior championships,” Stubbings said.
“Violet was also successful in the lead in event to the Australian Open junior championship, competing in the AGL Loy Yang Tarragon Junior International tournament, where she lost in the quarterfinals.”
Of particular note is that in the third round, Violet defeated Maria Carle (Argentina) seeded three for this event, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. Carle has a world junior ranking of 13, but has been as high as 9.
“PNG Tennis would like to thank Violet for her efforts in continuing to fly the flag of PNG on the international stage,” Stubbings said.
“PNG Tennis would also like to acknowledge Violet’s coach and father Patrick Apisah, together with Ross Anton and the coaching team from Meriden School in Sydney for their coaching support and assistance on and off the tennis court.”
In the International Tennis Federation world junior rankings, Apisah improved her ranking from 65th place at the end of 2016 to 29th.
A summary of Violet’s international tournament success, including participation at three grand slam junior tournaments — the US Open Junior Tennis Championships, The Wimbledon Junior Championships and the Australian Open Junior Championships.
Stubbings said Apisah’s would hopefully lead to an increase in participation of young tennis players in PNG and around Oceania.
“Violet has demonstrated her strength and resilience as a young woman on and off the tennis court. These are traits that any young athlete would want to emulate.”
Apisah’s representation and achievement: 2015 Pacific Games — Gold medal — women’s team event (A. Tere-Apisah/M. Tere-Apisah/V. Apisah/P. Apisah), Silver Medal — women’s doubles event (V. Apisah/P. Apisah), Silver Medal — mixed doubles event (V. Apisah/M. Stubbings); 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games — Bronze medal — girls singles event, Bronze Medal — mixed doubles event (V. Apisah/M. Stubbings); 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games — Apisah was selected to represent Papua New Guinea, but had to withdraw as she qualified for Junior Wimbledon Championships.