Tennis: Paige Hourigan home for R & R

Whanganui tennis sensation Paige Hourigan feels blessed by the experiences given daily during her time at Georgia Tech in the United States.

Back home for a short spell before returning Stateside to complete her final year playing tennis and studying business and marketing on a full scholarship at the Atlanta college, Hourigan reflected on time spent in the US.

"I feel really blessed to have the opportunity to go to this college for both tennis and studying," Hourigan said.

"I often look back and think 'that was just so amazing'. I am enjoying both studying and the tennis and because I was playing No 3 for Georgia in the college tennis conference this season I had more time for study and I actually made the academic roll, which is huge.
"The first few tournaments were tough. My best friend was in a car crash and was on life support, but passed away and it took me a while to refocus. The rest of the summer was okay and I managed to get back into it."

Her return home was in part to play for New Zealand in the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania at Dushanbe, Tajikistan last month and also as timeout after losing her close college mate.

"They (Tennis NZ) had been messaging me for a while about playing Fed Cup and I've always wanted to play for New Zealand and was keen to play with the new girl Erin. I only played the singles, not the doubles in Tajikistan and won two of my three matches."

Hourigan was alluding to New Zealand-born, Canadian-raised Erin Routliffe who joined the side for the first time along with Hourigan and Auckland's Jo Carswell, while Tennis NZ high performance manager Simon Rea was captain. The team finished fifth of the 13 nations competing.

"I went back after Fed Cup to play in a college team, an ITF team that paid for me to play a few games and then I realised I only had about two weeks left before school started and mum wanted me to come home for a visit - it'so good to be home. I usually try and come home every six months or so, but this time it was about eight and I was missing my family.

"Because Hourigan has been committed to college conference tennis and playing No 3 for Georgia, her world ranking has slipped to around 1000 and her New Zealand ranking to 5.

"I only get to play three (world tennis ranking) tournaments a year because of my college commitments. I go back to the States on Saturday when I will sort out my schedule for the year. The decision I have to make is to stay playing college tennis or play pro. I'm getting advice to go pro, but I'm still unsure."

The college conference Georgia Tech competes in is arguably the toughest conference in the USA with the likes of North Carolina, Duke and Virginia competing and graduates deciding on a pro career advance up the world rankings rapidly.

"Those who can play and go pro usually make the top 150 in the world within a year of leaving college."

Asked if she believed she had what it takes, Hourigan was quick to respond.

"Yes I am, and yes, I am going to make it. But in the meantime it has been so good to be home. I haven't picked up a racket since the Fed Cup and that's what I was told to do, completely relax," Hourigan said.