– KPT sponsor tennis star Ashling - an Update
KeyPoint Technologies has proudly sponsored up-and-coming Australian tennis star Ashling Sumner for the past year and are happy to see how well she has done over this time. Here is a short update of her recent successes across the world.
In America
Ashling toured the US for six weeks in November and December 2006. In Florida, Ashling played in two prestigious junior tournaments. The first was the Eddie Herr International and was held at the IMG / Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Ashling made it to the second round of the main draw (Round 64) out of nearly 240 girls (Under 14).
After that, Ashling competed in the Orange Bowl Tennis Tournament, Miami, which is widely recognised as the top junior event in the world. The best players from just about every country were there. Ashling made it to the 3rd Round (Round 32) where she lost to the top seed French Girl, having beaten the top seed Japanese player in the second round.
Overall she put in a great effort and gained valuable experience.
In New Zealand
For two weeks in January, Ashling went to New Zealand where she competed in her first ITF Junior events. These are International 18/Under events held by the International Tennis Federation and points earned go towards a world junior ranking. Ashling made it to the 3rd round in Auckland, and made the Semi-Final in the doubles in Christchurch. There were a large number of Japanese, Korean, and European players, mostly aged 16 - 17, and many with high world rankings. The highest ranking in the tournament was probably about 250. Ashling earned her first ranking points giving her a World Ranking of 1159.
What the future holds for Ashling
She will be off to Adelaide at the end of February to play another ITF event, then she will be off to Sydney the week after. Ashling needs to play at as many ITF tournaments as she can to increase her ranking. After Sydney there are no more ITF's until July in Darwin. If all goes well Ashling will travel with her family to the Philippines at the end of the year where she will play at some more ITF events and use these as a base to go to Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpar.
Ashling’s goal is rank close to 300 by the end of the year when she turns 15. If she can achieve this then hopefully she will gain entry to the Australian Open in January 2008. If all goes to plan, in June 2008 we will see Ashling in London to play in the Roland Garros Juniors and Wimbledon.
Everyone at KPT wishes Ashling all the best over the next year and will continue to support her in everything she does.
