PNG Tennis Queen, gold medalist Abigail Tere-Apisah is back on the courts hitting the ball again after giving birth to her first child in August, 2021.
In 2019 Abigail became the first Pacific Island woman to win a pro singles title which helped her return to the top 300 in the WTA rankings.
After spending the last couple of months adjusting to her new life as a family of three, Abigail is slowly but surely getting back on the tennis circuit. With her inclusion into the national team for the Mini Pacific Games, this could provide some leverage for her return to competitive tennis.
Being surrounded by a strong passionate tennis family, Abigail has the full support of everyone and is very happy with her progress so far.
She said, “I just had my son 7 months ago so I was a bit hesitant whether I was gonna come back now or not but..yeah so I’ve been training now with a couple of the guys here and it’s been going well. I’ve also started gym at the HPTC so that’s been going well also. So far am really enjoying it and very happy to be back,” she added.
Abigail said after being out of the game for over a year, surprisingly she reckons she’s still got her rhythm and skills but it’s just a matter of getting her fitness back up, making sure she’s match fit.
Though she’s made the team, Abigail said she will continue to work hard on her fitness and build up confidence to be in good nick for competition.
On the composition of the women’s tennis team, she said the team is made up of a couple of Australian based players who have been competing consistently at a high level which is a bonus for the team.
The Aussie based players, both boys and girls, will be arriving in Port Moresby a week earlier for some hitups with the PNG based players .They are also hoping to bring up the coaches from Australia before the teams travel for the Pacific Mini Games in June.