The first Pacific Island woman to win a pro singles title says her tennis career is "in limbo" as a result of Covid-19.
Papua New Guinea's Abigail Tere-Apisah won a US$25,000 ITF event in Singapore 11 months ago, which helped her regain a place in the top 300 in the WTA rankings.
PNG tennis player Abigail Tere-Apisah. Photo: Supplied
She also collected three gold medals at last year's Pacific Games in Samoa, winning the women's singles, doubles and team titles.
But the Port Moresby-based right-hander said the suspension of all professional tournaments until July has left her in a tough spot.
"The difficult part for us is that because this is kind of our livelihood. That's put on hold so a lot of people are kind of in a limbo - we don't really know what to do."
"People have been playing tennis basically all their lives, that's all they know, so it's just a crazy, weird time," she said.
Abigail Tere-Apisah (2R) won singles, doubles and team gold at the 2019 Pacific Games. Photo: Games News Service
Men's world number one Novak Djokovic and fellow superstars Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are headlining plans for a Player Relief Fund, which it's hoped will raise up to US$10,000 each for players ranked between 250 and 700 in the world.
Abigail Tere-Apisah is currently ranked 380 in the world and hopes something similar can be arranged in the women's game.
"I've seen that there's a petition circulating arounds about ITF and WTA, the organsations, helping the players because the players outside top 100 are literally earning nothing right now, so hopefully something can be worked out to help the players."
PNG's Abigail Tere-Apisah celebrates her win at the US$25,000 singles event in Singapore. Photo: Supplied
Tere-Apisah, 27, had made a strong start to 2020 before all tournaments were cancelled in response to the coronavirus pandemic, initially until April before being extended to mid July.
The Pacific Oceania number one played four tournaments in the space of five weeks - in Thailand, Tasmania and Perth - winning nine of her 13 matches, including the scalp of top seed and world number 154 Arina Rodinonova in her final tournament before proceedings were called to a halt.
"It's just so crazy to think that everything's just happened and changed - now that the tour's been cancelled and everything's been cancelled it's so weird."
Abigail Tere-Apisah is the first Pacific Island woman to win a professional singles title. Photo: Supplied
The Papua New Guinea trail-blazer had been set to continue her momentum with back to back events in Canberra before returning to Asia and then England in time for the grass-court season. But it wasn't to be.
"When I went back down to Australia I just knew this feeling, like I was getting a little bit better as the matches were going on, so it's a bit of a bummer that everything happened the way it did and the tournaments were cancelled," she said.
"Now it just feels like you have to start again, square one again."
Instead, Abigail Tere-Apisah is back home with her sister - fellow Pacific Games gold medallist Marcia - and her parents in Port Moresby for the foreseeable future.
Tennis sisters Marcia and Abigail Tere-Apisah are household names in PNG. Photo: Facebook
"I haven't picked up a racquet yet - it's just nice to take a little bit of a break - but I'm at the stage now where I'm kind of really missing playing."
"I've just basically been going to the gym in the mornings with my sister and my boyfriend, trying to stay fit and healthy, but other than that there's really nothing much going on since we had the lockdown here in PNG."
Even the gym is now out of bounds after new measures were introduced on Thursday to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in PNG, including a curfew between 8pm and 6am and a ban on all public gatherings and public transport.
Tere-Apisah admits there's only so many games of cards that she and her family can play before the boredom sets in.
But, while it's not easy being cooped up at home with little much to do, she said everyone is in the same boat so you have to stay positive and be grateful for what you do have.
"It's nice that we have social media and technology to be able to keep in touch."
"A lot of my friends that are on tour now we've been able to keep in touch and figure out what everyone is doing, but it's also a nice time because we travel a lot throughout the year so it's nice that some of the players can be home with their families, spend time with their family, do other stuff, try other things so I guess in a way that's nice," she said.