Hourigan turns new Paige on professional circuit
Sports quizzes are common over the festive period, so here’s a question: Who is New Zealand’s highest ranked singles tennis player?
Marina Erakovic? No, she’s retired. Michael Venus? Nope, he’s a doubles player. Rubin Statham? Not quite.
In fact, the answer is 21-year-old Paige Hourigan, who is ranked world No 576 in the women’s game.
Hourigan has been given a wildcard to qualifying at the ASB Classic, which begins today, and she’ll need to win two matches over the weekend to make it into the main draw. It looks a tall order for a player with her ranking, but it doesn’t really tell the full story of Hourigan’s ability.
She has just finished a four-year stint at Georgia Tech, where she was one of the leading players in the American collegiate system and during a brief time playing tournaments this year she moved her ranking from 1125 in June to 602 by August.
Her best result was in Corroios-Seixal, Portugal, where she came through qualifying to win the tournament without dropping a set.
With college at last out of the way, Hourigan is set to embark fully on her professional career.
‘‘I’m super excited to start playing and fully focus on my tennis,’’ Hourigan said. ‘‘I’m so happy that I have my degree out of the way and it’s good to be back home and getting ready for the season.’’
Four years is a long time to commit to college tennis, but it did allow Hourigan to improve her tennis without the expense of battling in ITF tournaments around the world and she feels it did make her a better player.
‘‘It made me mature way more on the court, mentally and physically,’’ she said. ‘‘I’m the fittest I’ve ever been and that’s thanks to my trainer there. I couldn’t have asked for a better four years at Georgia Tech, it was unbelievable.’’
With Erakovic hanging up her racket, there is more focus on Hourigan this year, along with Erin Routliffe and Valentina Ivanov, as the country’s tennis fans cling to the hope that this country can produce another top 40 player.
However, Hourigan says this isn’t something she’s noticed.
‘‘I wouldn’t say there’s more attention, it’s just normal,’’ she said.
‘‘Marina had a great career and it’s weird to think I’m the New Zealand No 1 now, because my ranking isn’t super high. But my goal is to make it higher next year, so we’ll see.’’
After the Classic, Hourigan will stay in Auckland and spend time working with Tennis NZ’s high performance manager director Simon Rea and the Fed Cup captain Neil Carter, before heading overseas.
She’s likely to base herself in America, but won’t be travelling around with a coach as it’s a cost she can’t afford.
Next year will be a huge year in the career of Hourigan. She’s a real fighter out on the court, which should stand her in good stead as she scraps it out in small tournaments, although controlling her emotions can sometimes be an issue.
Hourigan will play doubles with Taylor Townsend at the Classic, while the other Kiwis who’ve been given qualifying wildcards for singles are Ivanov, Routliffe and Elys Ventura.