Claudia Ng Hei-ching, Hong Kong's top-ranked junior girl tennis player, won a coveted place to play on the red clay at Roland Garros, the Paris home of the French Open tournament, after a tough selection battle with threeother contenders on Sunday.
She won the play-off 6-2, 4-6, 3-1 in Kowloon Tsai Park after second-seeded Magdaleine Wong Yuet had to stop because of injury and exhaustion.
Claudia, a Year Six student at the Australian International School, paid tribute to Magdaleine after her win. 'Putting aside the result, she played really well,' Claudia said. 'It was tough. I never expected an easy match and have had to prepare hard for really difficult situations like this in the tournament. I wasn't at 100 per cent, but I'm satisfied with my overall performance.'
Claudia will now compete at June's Longines Future Tennis Aces tournament against the world's top juniors, with the added prize of playing against retired tennis great Steffi Graf if she wins.
Knock-out qualifying matches featuring Hong Kong's top 16 under-13 girls have been played over the past few weeks. Sunday's matches - played under a blazing sun - started at 10am as Claudia defeated fourth-ranked Tsang Wai-yiu 6-3, 6-2 in the first semi-final.
Magdaleine, a Form One student at Marymount Secondary School, in Happy Valley, struggled to overcome 10-year-old Cody Wong Hong-yi in a match lasting more than three hours. They played a super tie-break decider, with the rivals locked at one-set all, before Magdaleine won 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 10-1.