Teenage prodigy Ashley Keir (Nicholls, ACT) has continued her amazing run of success recently by winning back-to-back Platinum Australian Money Tournaments (AMT) in Griffith and Gosford.
The 16 year-old achieved the best results of her promising career to date, beating several experienced and higher-ranked players to claim both titles.
Keir reached the final in Griffith after defeating 24 year-old Stephanie Bengson (Albion Park, NSW), who had previously knocked out top seed and Australian No.26 Daniella Scivetti (Drummoyne, NSW) in the quarterfinals.
Ranked No.59 in Australia, Keir then overcame fellow rising star and Junior Fed Cup representative Belinda Woolcock (Vic) in the final, 6-0 7-6(5). Woolcock fought back from a disappointing first set but was unable to claim the second set tiebreaker against Keir.
The two players once again met in the final in Gosford with Keir claiming the title in straight sets, 7-6(5) 6-0. After a tight first set, Keir cruised through the second set to secure her second Platinum AMT win in as many tournaments.
Keir’s coach Damien Ward believed that these results were just a stepping stone as she establishes her WTA ranking.
“This year I can see her in the top 600 in the world, and natural progression should take her to the top 400 by the end of next year which would be great,” Ward said.
Keir is set to travel to Thailand in June where she will look to build upon her impressive form at home this year.
“While she has been competitive at that level before (AMT), unfortunately she has never been able to win them,” Ashley’s father Stephen Keir said.
“Without a doubt, this has been the highlight of her career so far.”
Platinum tournaments are the top level of AMTs in Australia, and provide the maximum Australian Ranking Points for players.
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