Both Guam men’s and women’s national tennis teams swept their opponents 3-0 Friday at the 2023 Pacific Games in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

In a men’s No. 1 singles match, Guam’s Mason Caldwell lost the opening set, trailed love-3 in the final set, but found a way to beat Tonga’s Otufangavalu Noa 2-4, 5-4(4), 5-3. At No. 2 singles, Guam’s Camden Camacho had a much easier time than Caldwell, as he nearly double-bageled Tonga’s Filipe Huni 4-1, 4-0. Caldwell and Camacho, after sweeping singles, teamed up in doubles to beat Huni and Noa 5-4(2), 5-3.

Akin to the Guam men’s results against Tonga, Guam women played Cook Islands and had one easy singles match, one which was a struggle, then a straight sets doubles victory.

For Team Guam, at No. 1 singles, Fremont “Monti” Gibson lost the opening set to Norah Browne at love, then surged through the second and third sets and won 0-4, 4-1, 4-1. Guam’s No. 2 singles player, Sydney Packbier, defeated Lillian Maui 4-1, 4-0. Like Guam’s men’s team, Gibson and Packbier teamed up in doubles and defeated Browne and Maui 5-3, 4-0.

Guam struggles but succeeds

When Caldwell stepped onto the slippery hard courts, he wasn’t prepared to battle the Tongan. The former Harvest Christian Academy Eagles multisport student-athlete and recent graduate of Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, struggled against his opponent.

“This guy’s huge. He had a massive forehand and massive serve,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell, in less than 10 minutes, trailed love-3 and needed to find a way to stop overthinking and beat his opponent.

“I kind of had to turn my brain, like, off, essentially. Because the more I thought about it, the more I thought I was going to get tight or feel the pressure. So I just had to go on autopilot and let my body go off of instinct,” he said.

Caldwell, in the first set, managed to win two games but his serve and groundstrokes were amiss and unforced errors mounted.

“I knew what I needed to do but … it wasn’t clicking,” he said.

After losing the first set and barely squeaking by Noa in a second-set tiebreak, the Guamanian trailed love-3 in the third set. Caldwell, in the fast-four format, was one game away from suffering defeat.

Caldwell, four points from losing, began taking the match one point at a time.

“All I was trying to think about was swinging hard through the ball and putting it through the court, because I was just floating things off to this guy,” Caldwell said.

Quickly, but not quick enough in his opinion, points turned into games, which turned into the set and the match. Almost as if encompassed by a vortex and experiencing zen-like tunnel vision, Caldwell willed himself to victory.

“Down love-3, honestly, if you asked me how I played in the third set, I wouldn’t be able to tell you just because I was only focusing on the ball that was right in front of me rather than big scheme game plan or anything,” he said.

“I had to will myself through the rest of the set,” he added.

Camacho takes down Tongan

Whereas Caldwell’s match was a marathon, Camacho’s two-setter was a sprint, as he dropped his opponent in 43 minutes.

“Every match we play this tournament is going to be tough, especially because of the conditions,” he said. “It’s going to be long days, but having easier matches is good in the beginning so we can get acclimated to the courts.”

Camacho, a senior at George Fox University and a member of the Bruins’ regional championship men’s tennis team, is honored to represent his island.

“Representing Guam in Pacific Games is my favorite tournament and what I look forward to when playing tennis,” he said. “The atmosphere and tennis competition is great.”

Gibson gives it her all

After struggling through the first set and not winning a game, Gibson powered through the second and third sets.

“The first set was more of a mental struggle I would say,” Gibson said. “I struggled on finding the rhythm of the match, but I was able to turn that around in the second set, focusing on a more defensive game with higher percentage shots, especially on my serve.”

As the match wore on, pressure and temperature became motivating factors to hang tough and put away her opponent.

“After coming back and taking the second set, the extreme heat was really pushing me to my limits but I managed to stay strong and pull through to take the third set and the victory,” she said.

Packbier outperforms Maui

Although the 2023 Pacific Games opening ceremony hasn’t happened yet, tennis, in a soft opening of sorts, kicked off the games. As the Pac Games swung into action, so did Packbier. In under an hour, the St. John’s School standout only lost one game.

“I just had to focus on playing my game and getting into my groove as it was the first day and first match, and the rest followed,” she said. “I had to make sure my serves and groundstrokes were there and, I think, halfway through the first set, I found them. And after that, I just had to play my game.”

As athletes, coaches and stakeholders from the 24 competing nations have been arriving and continue to touchdown by plane loads, Packbier was eager to showcase Guam’s talent. Packbier, the first athlete from any sport to compete in the Solomon Games, embodied excellence.

“I am actually pretty used to being first up in these tournaments, so I’ve figured out a kind of ritual to prepare myself mentally and physically before my match,” she said. “But there’s always going to be both pressure and excitement being the first match on.”

“You never know exactly what to expect, but I just calm myself down by realizing all I can control is myself and the way I play,” she said.

With only three teams in each of Guam’s pools and the opening ceremony scheduled for Sunday, Guam’s tennis teams won’t play again until Monday, when the men will take on Papua New Guinea and the women will swing into action against Samoa.

Also competing in the men’s team competition, but in separate pools, are Vanuatu, Tahiti and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. These three nations are in Pool A. Pool B is made up of Guam, PNG and Tonga. Pool C is made up of Fiji, Samoa and Solomon Islands. Pool D is comprised of Cook Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia and Tuvalu.

In women’s competition, Cook Islands, Guam and Samoa are in Pool A. PNG, Nauru and Tonga are in Pool B. And Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu are in Pool C.