Whanganui tennis ace and Kiwi No1 Paige Hourigan plays a winning waiting game at home

In-form Kiwi No1 Paige Hourigan is loving time at home in Whanganui while she awaits news of a possible wildcard entry to the Australian Open. Photo / Getty Images 231220WCSup08.JPG

Professional Whanganui tennis ace Paige Hourigan is racking up national titles while marking time to see if she and her international doubles partner receive a wildcard entry into the Australian Open in February.

Hourigan arrived back to the family home in Turakina three weeks ago, before slipping away to Wellington last weekend to successfully defend her New Zealand women's singles title and retain the national No1 ranking.

Safely through that tough encounter with a 5-7 6-4 6-1 victory over 15-year-old Vivian Yang, Hourigan was back at the family home awaiting news of whether she and Indonesian doubles partner Aldila Sutjiadi had made the cut to play in the Australian Open.

In the meantime, Hourigan had given her uncle David Butters the green light to sign her up for the Aotearoa Māori Tennis Championship to be hosted in Whanganui for the first time in 93 years.

"I think I played in this tournament once and won it when I was about 15 or 16 - mum [Tracy Hourigan] will know," Hourigan said.

The Aotearoa Maori Tennis Championship will be played over three days at the Whanganui Tennis Club and courts at Whanganui Collegiate School starting Sunday, December 27.

"I'm not sure if I'm just playing singles or doubles, I just said to Uncle David to sign me up. But it's great to be back playing competition tennis again after an interrupted year.

"I've been overseas, mostly in America with some time in Egypt during a year disrupted by Covid-19. I was mainly playing exhibition tournaments in North America, which allowed us to earn a few dollars and I've had two trips back home in that time doing quaratine both times.

"I had to leave after playing one tournament in Egypt so I could finish quaratine in time for Christmas. Vouchers for spots in quarantine are difficult to get, so when mum said she had found one, I had to miss some tennis in Egypt to get home in time."

Hourigan said it had been a rough debut to her professional career with the untimely death of her shearing contractor father Phill Hourigan in August last year and then most of 2020 interrupted by Covid-19.

"I really haven't had a full professional season without interruption, so it has been difficult, but it's great to be home and it's great to be playing competitive tennis while I'm here. I'm happy enough with my form, but now it's just a waiting game to see what opens up for me tournament-wise."