Wanganui tennis sensation Paige Hourigan is coming home for a well-earned rest after her iron-woman effort in Korea earned New Zealand's Junior Federation Cup team a spot in the world finals.
In the playoff for third at the Asia/Oceania Final Round Qualifying in Gimcheon, Korea, Hourigan's New Zealand team held off Japan 2-1 to book their trip to Mexico in September after the teenager was victorious following nearly six straight hours on court.
Following North Harbour's Rosie Cheng dropping her game to Japan's Shirori Fukuda 7-6 6-3, Hourigan took centre stage to keep New Zealand alive against Nozomi Ohya.
What followed was three hours, 35 minutes of attrition as Hourigan prevailed by the remarkable score of 6-7(4) 7-6(2) 7-6(5).
Having tied the meeting, Hourigan went virtually straight back out with Cheng for the deciding doubles match and after another gruelling two hours, 13 minutes, the Kiwi girls beat Ohya and a fresh Ayaka Higashi 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Mother Tracy Hourigan was horrified to learn her daughter had only been given a chocolate bar during the brief 30-minute break between her two marathon efforts.
While adrenaline meant eating a meal was impossible, mother's intuition would have at least had a protein drink on standby, said mum.
"She must have been so tired, I was really pleased that she lasted."
Putting on her managerial cap, Tracy Hourigan has decided to pull Paige out of planned appearances in European tournaments, bringing her home for a month's rest and school work.
Since the New Zealand residential championships where she won the junior title and was senior runnerup the youngster has been playing tennis virtually non-stop including the ASB Classic, Junior Australian Championships, Wanganui's Christie Cup success, a national title for her St Kentigern College team and international ITF tournaments in Asia.
She even had to play matches in Auckland the morning of her big benefit game in Wanganui that raised over $40,000 for her burgeoning career.
Tracy Hourigan said her daughter has not had a day off since Christmas, and the disappointing March results at the two ITF tournaments in Thailand and Malaysia showed an athlete reaching the end of her tether.
"We changed everything really quickly, that's why she's coming home.
"I think it's just got to her and those [Fed Cup] matches, it takes a lot out of her. Mentally, she's just exhausted."
A month to recharge will work wonders with Mexico in September now confirmed, Tracy Hourigan said.
In Korea the girls lost their semifinal against Australia 2-0, necessitating the playoff with Japan.
The Kiwis had finished top of their pool after upsetting fourth seeds Korea 2-1.
Cheng opened with a straight sets singles win, but Hourigan was beaten in the top singles game 4-6 6-2 6-3.
She came back to team with Cheng and win the doubles rubber to top Pool D and the team then won their quarterfinal tie against Uzbekistan 2-1.
Hourigan's cousin Kyle Butters was also competing in the New Zealand Junior Davis Cup in Korea and his fifth-seeded team finished in exactly that spot.
Playing with Auckland's William Matheson and Canterbury's Connor Heap, Butter's team finished second in their pool but lost 2-0 to Australia in the quarterfinals.
The New Zealanders went on to defeat Chinese Taipei 2-1 and then Hong Kong 3-0.