UNDER 10 NEWS

2015 OTA U10 TDC CUP

The OTA hosted the inaugural U10 TDC CUP on November 28 - 29th at the Aviva Centre.  This event was offered to provincial Tennis Development Centre’s across the province offering an opportunity for clubs to enter a team of two boys and two girls born in (2006, 2007).  The event had a total of 12 teams with 4 players per squad for a total of 48 players. Judging by the smiles in this photo a good time was had by all.

Format:                                      

Each team played one another in their round robin group, playing a total of 3 teams during round robin preliminary play.  All matches consisted of two girls’ singles matches and one girls’ doubles match, two boys’ singles matches and one boys’ doubles match for a total of 6 matches.  Each match was timed at 40-minutes with no ad scoring on full court with the green ball; players played as many games as possible in the 40 minutes; each game won counted towards their teams total; thus, a team’s total score was accumulated of the total games won from the six matches played.  The round robin result’s during prelim competition was determined by total games won per team.  Teams were then reordered and placed in championship/consolation flights based off their team result.

The teams placed as follows:- 

1. Ontario Racquet Club. 2. Toronto Tennis Academy (WC). 3. Waterloo. 4. Toronto Tennis City. 5. ACE - Burlington #1.  6. ATI (Veneto). 7. ACE - Burlington #2. 8. Mayfair. 9. Toronto Lawn. 10. NYTA. 11. Niagara Tennis Academy. 12. Ontario Racquet Club #2.

    

Team Spirit Award: Toronto Lawn

Fair Play Award: Phil St. Pierre, Claire Podolsky, Edward Liu, Tea Budisic, Aakash Kapur.

CHAMPIONS EVENT FEBRUARY 12 to 15, AVIVA CENTRE

The third Champions event is scheduled for Feb 12 to 15, 2016 at the Aviva Centre in Toronto. Entry deadline is February 7. For complete rules and regulations please go to and to enter go to

2016 OTA Champions

All players competing in the OTA Champions event must be born no later than 2006 January 1st.  Players who have won the event in past years are NOT eligible to compete in this year’s event. All competitors must be a registered OTA member. 

All players will be randomly placed in a preliminary round robin box. Players will advance to their respective flights based on their preliminary results. Full court - green dot balls. Best of three short sets up to 4, tie breaker at 3 games all up to 5

“The Champions” is the brain child of Mr. Murray Rubin, a life-long tennis enthusiast and member of the York Racquets Club in Toronto. Mr. Rubin has donated over $40,000 to “The Champions”, to be used to pay for the one-on-one coaching of the young winners and finalists, payable over a two year period. Muuray is a long time supporter of tennis in Canada and Ontario whose “goal is to help produce a Canadian world champion”. The OTA will administer the tournament and the coaching dollar grants offered to champions and finalists.

SENIORS NEWS

STEVE STEVENS CELEBRATES 99^TH BIRTHDAY

Tennis Canada Tennis Development Staff and a few long time friends helped Steve Stevens celebrate his 99^th birthday at the Toronto Lawn on November 17^th.Steve is now living in a Seniors Residence and rumour has it he is already planning his 100^th birthday celebration. 

For those who are new to Seniors Tennis or who do not yet qualify because of lack of years, Steve Stevens was, until recently, the lead person for Seniors Tennis for Tennis Canada since 1984. He is a tremendous promoter of seniors;tennis and Canadian players participating in the ITF World Team Championships and has seen participation in these events grow significantly. Steve is also a past President and Board member of the OTA and a former General Manager of the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club.

INAUGURAL AMERICAS MASTERS GAMES IN VANCOUVER AUG 24 - SEP 4, 2016

The International Masters Games Association (IMGA) was seeking to establish a continental Games in the Americas region as a companion to the World Masters Games. After successfully hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver was the perfect site for hosting the inaugural AMG with infrastructure, sports hosting facilities, and the local knowledge necessary. The inaugural Americas Masters Games, organised by Sport BC, will be held in Vancouver August 26^th to Sept 4^th 2016.

Anyone over the age of 30 can participate in the Games. Participants will need proof of age and valid identification but no sport qualification is required.

25 sports, including tennis will be offered for the AMG 2016 program.

It is hoped that upwards of 10,000 people will participate. You are encouraged to register early to guarantee your spot in the competition, and to allow time to arrange your travel and accommodation.

The Athlete games package fee is CAD $215.00 plus applicable taxes and booking fees.  Additional sports cost CAD $75.00 plus applicable taxes.

Managers/Coaches costs will be CAD $50.00

Family and Spectator costs will be CAD $50.00

All three packages include:

• Access to spectacular Opening and Closing Ceremonies
• Official Americas Masters Games 2016 Welcome Kit
• Americas Masters Games 2016 Accreditation Badge
• Access to the Games ‘Health and Sport’ Expo in the Games plaza
• Olympic-style format in first Masters Games of the Americas region
• Competition performance medals and Award Ceremonies
• Nightly Events, Beer Garden and Entertainment in downtown Games plaza
• Discounts on Vancouver Restaurants and Tourist Attractions

For more information on this please go to www.americasmastersgames2016.com

The next World Master Games will be held in Auckland New Zealand April     2017 for more information go to www.worldmastersgames2017.co.nz  The inaugural World Masters Games were held in Toronto in 1985.

REMEMBERING GUS

Remembering Gus: Extraordinary Tennis Volunteer

On Sunday Dec 13, 2015 Gus Morhart  passed away. He was at his winter home in Florida, probably working  on his latest project, the Islamorada Tennis Club in Florida. Gus had bought this property wanting to provide young Canadian tennis players with a safe and affordable place to train in winter.  He had already installed an OTA banner and was looking for an OTA flag to hoist above the property, such was his loyalty to the organization he had devoted much of his time and energy to for more than 25 years.

Gus was a doer, a builder, a practical person. He never wanted to be in the limelight, he just went about making a better world through tennis in his own modest and generous way. The ability to take an idea and turn it into reality made Gus such an exceptional and valuable individual. He never judged people, he never considered the shortcomings or argued about the constraints or potential problems, he just did what he saw could be done.  For example, after an exploratory discussion about raising  the profile and image of the Ontario Junior Closed Championships, Gus made improvements a reality by making single sticks and score cards for the courts and umpire chairs. He came at dawn to put up the banners on the courts, on finals days he brought the bouquets of flowers which were presented to all the girls with their trophies. It was Gus who provided the bowl of candies at the tournament desk, who built the large scoreboards, who organized the barbeque and who watched and supported every junior who played in the event.

Gus was also the transporter of players, both for the pros on the grounds at the Rogers Cup or for the kids around junior nationals. Whether it was a junior who needed picking up at the airport or Milos who needed to be taken to hospital, Gus would be there with his trusty dark green van covered with logos no matter what time of day or night. And then he would be there to support the juniors at the big events in Florida in December, Canada T shirts for every Canadian player, accommodation at his place in the Keys, fish from his freezer, he shared everything he had.

Gus was modest, kind and generous of spirit. He derived great pleasure from giving, particularly if the gift was appreciated.  He wanted very little for himself. I remember when the OTA held a special lottery that it was Gus who was first to buy tickets. When he won a trip to Wimbledon in the lottery, he gave it to a junior so they could afford to go to play in the junior event and when they thanked him with a towel from Wimbledon, he gave that away as appreciation to a fellow volunteer.

Gus was officially recognized many times by the OTA (DSA and other awards) by Tennis Canada and by the Ontario Government (Syl Apps award). But I really think for him the best reward was a smile, a small favour, a helping hand, a hug  and a willingness to help tennis.

It is the juniors who played at Kew and their parents who remember Gus most fondly. We are planning to include a collection of photos and memories of Gus in the OTA Year Book which will be published online in January.  If you have a special photo or memory of Gus that you would like to contribute please send it to me, pamolley@sympatico.ca or the OTA office ota@tennisontario.com and we will try to include it in our collection.

As of today there are no details available for a celebration of Gus’s life, we hear that one will be held after the holidays and we will notify you as soon as we know the time and place.

Photo by Peter Figura.

BIANCA ANDREESCU WINS THE ORANGE BOWL

BIANCA TAKES HER SECOND ORANGE BOWL TITLE.

Bianca Andreescu (Toronto, ON) completed a spectacularly successful 2015 season with the most significant victory of her young career on Sunday at the Metropolia Orange Bowl in Plantation, Florida. She captured the U18 girls singles title by defeating American Kayla Day in the finals 7-6, 6-2. 

Bianca won the Under 16 Orange Bowl singles title and was a runner up in the Under 14 Orange Bowl in 2014. Andreescu’s other results in 2015 include, winning the singles and doubles titles at the Condor De Plata in La Paz, Bolivia in February, reaching the final of the Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France Grade 1 event, reaching the final of the Gatineau National Bank Challenger (a WTA event) and was a finalist in singles and a champion in doubles at the Yucatan Cup, Mexico.  She was also the Rogers Canadian Junior Outdoor National U18 singles and doubles champion.  

It is expected that her year-end World Junior ranking will be in the top 10 making her the highest ranked 15 year old in the world. She is the third Canadian junior to win the Under 18 Orange Bowl. Carling Bassett tool the title in 1982 and Gabriela Dabrowski in 2009.

Bianca trains as part of the National Tennis Centre and is coached by former French star, Natalie Tauziat

OTHER ONTARIO JUNIORS WIN HARDWARE IN FLORIDA

It’s December, the month when tens of Ontario juniors travel to Florida, often with their family in tow, to test their skill in a series of the junior tournaments which attract competitors from around the world and maybe enjoy a little rest and relaxation in the sun.  There is the Eddie Herr, the Orange Bowl (aka the Junior World Championships), the junior Orange Bowl and for the even younger crowd there is the Little Mo International.

The Junior Orange Bowl is the final event and it will be completed on Dec 22^nd

Several Ontario players won trophies in the Little Mo tournament, named after former player Maureen Connolly  and supported by the Maureen Connolly Brinker Foundation. This event takes place in Palm Beach Gardens and is hosted by BallenIsles Country Club, PGA National Resort and Spa, Eastpointe Golf and Racquet Club and at the Palm Beach Gardens Tennis Centre. This year under 13 and under 14 events were added to this tournament which has events for every age from under 8 to under 12 in one year increments. Green dot and Yellow ball events are played for the 10 and under age categories.

Boys 8 (green) singles  Nicolas Arseneault (Richmond Hill), champion. Zachary Kimmelman (Thornhill), 3^rd.

Boys 10 (green)  singles Daniel Tsukinovsky (Richmond Hill), champion

Girls 10 (yellow) singles Kayla Cross (London) champion, Madison Lee (Mississauga) 3^rd, Valeria Ray (Toronto) 4^th.

Girls 11 singles Dasha Plekhanova (Toronto) champion, Arina Artemyeva, 3^rd, Dharani Niroshan (Richmond Hill) 4^th

Girls 14 singles Alexandra Arkhipov, champion.

The doubles events and the boys 11 singles have not been updated on the event web site so we do not have access to those results yet. We believe that there were some trophy winners in the doubles which we will publish if we get the information.

JUNIOR DAVIS AND FED CUP

Following up on their US Open Junior Boys Doubles championship, Denis Shapovolov of Ontario and Felix Auger-Aliassime of Quebec were in winning form again at the Junior Davis Cup,  played in Madrid, Spain.

Canada’s under 16 boys team were the top seeded team in the event. They beat Poland, Hong Kong and the Czech Republic in round robin play and Russia in the semifinals without dropping a match. Japan lost to Germany in their semi-final.

In the finals, against Germany, Denis led the way with a straightforward win over Marvin Moeller. Felix lost the next singles match to Nicola Kuhn. Denis and Felix then took on their singles opponents in the doubles match which would decide the tie. After taking the first set 6-3, the Germans fought back to win the second set. Fortunately the Canadian duo were able to seal the deal with a 6-2 win in the third set to win Canada’s first-ever Junior Davis Cup title..

The third member of the winning team was Benjamin Sigouin of Quebec. The best finish by a Canadian Junior Davis Cup or Fed Cup team before this year was second place — 2011, 2004, 2003 (Junior Fed Cup) and 2010 (Junior Davis Cup).

"It's very exciting being the first Canadians to ever win Junior Davis Cup," said Shapovalov. "We knew we had the team to do it as all three of the players on this team are great and contributed. We are very excited."

The women's junior Fed Cup team, made up Bianca Andreescu of Ontario, Charlotte Robillard-Millette of Quebec and Vanessa Wong of Ontario also competed very well. They won their round robin grouping with Japan, Great Britain and Japan. In the semi-finals they played top seeded and eventual champions, Czech Republic and regrouped to defeat Russia to take third place. USA was the other team in the final four.

15 countries qualify for the Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup, which is for under-16 players, through regional qualifying events. The host country teams automatically qualify. This year 168 teams from 94 countries took part in regional qualifying for this event. This competition has been held since 1985. Formerly known as the World Youth Cup, it was rebranded as Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup in 2002.

The Sunshine and Connolly Cups, known informally as the junior Davis and Fed Cups, were competitions for under-18 players organized by the ITF. The Canadian team of Daniel Nestor and Rob Janacek of Ontario, along with Sebastien Lareau and Sebastien Leblanc of Quebec, won the Sunshine Cup in 1989. These Cup events have not been played since 2001.

Pictured here are the winning Canadian and Czech Republic teams. The Czech girls, Marketa Vondrousova, Monika Kilnarova and Anna Slovakova won their final over USA to take the Junior Fed Cup.  Photo by Martin Sidorjak.

TOURNAMENT OF GRAND CHAMPIONS

The Tournament of Grand Champions, a series of “Tournament of Club Champions” events were held at the beautiful new University of Toronto,  Scarborough College Tennis Facility, which was upgraded for the Parapan Am Games.  Winners and Finalists of Club Championships for 2014 and 2015 from clubs across Ontario were invited to participate in singles, doubles and mixed doubles events spread over 3 weekends in September and October. All players were guaranteed 3 matches over the weekend.

The first event was for singles players. The women’s singles A was won by Leanne James of the Granite Club who beat Vienne Lu of Kew Gardens in the final. The women’s singles B was won by Renee James of the Cutten Club who beat Anne Hurtibise of Kew Gardens in the final.

Leighton Brandon of Kew  was crowned champion in the Junior Boys singles with his win over Tim Zeikowvsky of Newmarket. The men’s singles A winner was Justin Belanger of Davisville who defeated Luke Coles of Mayfair Lakeshore in the final. Andrew Falco of Heron Park took the men’s B honours with a win over Kew Gardens member, Justin David.

The men’s and women’s doubles events were held the last weekend in September. The women’s C title was won by Diane Howarth & Annette Brajer of Pine Point who defeated Natasha Stojanova & Alexsanda Stojanova in their final. The women’s B was won by Rhonda Kazdan & Lauren Tabatznik of Mayfair West who beat Mary Ruehlicke & Lisa Hoffman of Waterloo in their final. The women’s A final was won by Jacqueline Green & Sandra Barrett of Mayfair Lakeshore who defeated Mary Hall & Pat Hall of Curran Hall. The men’s A champions were Konrad Chan & Ilias Mourador of Henry Farms who defeated Brian Li & Bobby Gheorghiu of Thorncliffe Park in the final. Mandeep Singh & Arul Raj of Malton took home the B honours with a win over Wayne Ivey & Rhuel Maano of North York in their final.

October 3 and 4 saw the mixed doubles events on the courts. The mixed A champions are Paul Scotti & Christina Rustscheff  of Davisville, while Kanta Murali & Paul Kingston of Mayfair Lakeshore were the finalists (see photo from right to left). The mixed B honours went to Stephanie Wong & Tyson Wong of Agincourt who beat Mary Ruehlicke & Peter Gavaris of Waterloo in the final.

Special thanks go to Scott McRoberts of the U of T Scarborough College Tennis Centre who made this possible and to Tennis Access's Sandra Barrett and her team of volunteers for their unflagging energy and enthusiasm in getting this event off the ground.

INTERCOUNTY TENNIS YEAR END FINALS

The Intercounty tennis association league annual playoffs at the Aviva Centre were initially scheduled for September 19^th but with a blustery, rainy and cold forecast, some of the matches were played on Sunday September 20^th.  Thanks go to all the committed volunteers who make this event one that is so important to the many recreational players who compete every week throughout the summer.

Several matches were hotly contested and the winners determined by counting sets and even games.

The league winners were as follows

MIXED League

Majors: Dentonia Park beat Davisville on sets 3-3, 8-7

A Division: Don Mills won over Banbury (default)

B Division: Boulevard beat Pine Point 3-3, 7-7, 59-58

C Division: Richmond Hill Lawn 6 beat Richmond Hill Lawn 7, 4-2

LADIES League

Majors: Banbury beat ORC 1  9-3 (see photo above of the Banbury ladies team)

A Division: Ajax beat Brampton 12-0

B1 Division: Sheridan beat Ballantrae 12-0

B2 Division: Whitby beat King City 6-6, 5-5, 43-36

55 + League

Division 1: Newmarket beat Brampton (see photo below of the Newmarket over 55 team)

Division 2: ORC beat King City

JUNIOR League

Mixed Major: Glenview beat Unionville

Mixed A: Kleinburg beat Hillcrest

Girls: Rosedale beat Wanless Park

Boys Majors: Unionville beat Central

Boys A1: Newmarket beat Milton

Boys A2: Whitby beat Brampton

The Intercounty Tennis Association encourages would be photographers to bring their cameras to this event.  For more information on the leagues or to see the photo galleries that have been uploaded you can go to www.intercountytennis.com

SUPER SENIORS AT THE WORLDS

The ITF Super Senior World Team and World Individual Championships were held in Umag Croatia Sept 21 to 26 and Sept 28 to Oct 3 respectively.

Several Ontario players represented Canada in the team events. Tim Griffin & John Payne (65s), John Tibbits & Shaheer Mikhail (70s), Guido Weber (75s), Lorne Main (80s), Mary Ann Gaskin & Coby Dommasch (65s). 

In the team events, the Canadian women’s over-65 team had the country’s best finishing position, placing eighth in the Kitty Godfree Cup. The best men’s finish for Team Canada was ninth in the over-70 Jack Crawford Cup. 

The Tennis Canada Seniors Committee decided not to send women’s teams in the 70, 75 and 80 age groups. Canada has been a great supporter of these women’s events in past years and encouraged new levels of competition to be introduced. For instance, Canada had won the women’s over 80 team event (the Doris Hart Cup) every year since its inception in 2011. The existence of senior teams and Canada’s active support of these events has been an inspiration and incentive for mature women to play and compete and there has been a corresponding increase in the number of entries at the Steve Stephens Senior Nationals. 

One of the women who was on all the triumphant Canadian over 80 women’s teams, Rosemarie Asch of Montreal, did make the trip to Croatia and swept the over-85 age category at the ITF Super Seniors World Individual Championships, claiming three gold medals. In women’s singles Rosie beat Monique Giffard of France, 6-0, 6-1 to claim the crown. Rosie won the over-85 women’s doubles title with Hungarian Erzsebet Szentirmay and the over-85 mixed doubles trophy with fellow Canadian Lorne Main (see photo).

Asch went a perfect 8-0, never losing a set all week and in fact dropping just 14 games in total. Asch, who will turn 85 in November, was playing in the over-85 age category for the first time. For the complete draws and results from the ITF Super Seniors World Individual Championships please visit www.itftennis.com/seniors 

Next year's Steve Stephens Senior Nationals (2016) will be held in Ottawa August 21 to 27. The next ITF World Team championships will be held in Croatia for the young seniors (O35,O40 & O45) May 1-6, 2016, in Helsinki, Finland for the senios (O50, O55 & O60) June 19 - 24, 2016 and in Antalya, Turkey for the Super Seniors (O65, O70, O75 & O80) Oct 16-21, 2016.  The individual championships for each group are played the following week.

MIELE MASTERS CIRCUIT WINNERS

The first Miele Masters Circuit concluded on Thanksgiving weekend with the Mayfair Senior Masters. This included a special century mixed doubles event and a reception on Saturday evening at the Miele Gallery in Vaughan.

Circuit points were accumulated over 4 events and all registered Ontario players who entered singles events were automatically entered. The four events were the Ontario Senior Provincial Championships – men’s and women’s singles, held July 6 – 12, the ITF Senior Championships at Donalda – men’s and women’s singles, held July 15 – 19, the Steve Stevens Senior National Tennis Championships – men’s and women’s singles, held in Montreal August 16 – 22, and the Mayfair Senior Masters – men’s and women’s singles, held October 9 – 12.

The  special century mixed doubles event was won by Sandra Cimetta & Barry Litman (see photo right) who beat Kerry Mitchell & Glenda Hirvela (see photo left) in the finals. Semi-finalists were Ben Woo & Akemi Seiriki and James Henkelman & Cindy O’Doherty.

The winners and finalists of the singles events were:-

MS35 Dave Rowat, Vahid Tahamtan

MS45 Nels Stanfield, Mike O’Neill

WS45 Cindy O’Doherty, Nancy Lin

MS50 Gary Meanchos, James Henkelman

MS55 Kerry Mitchell, Avi Singer

WS55 Sue Bye, Rudite Loze

MS65 Peter Gonda, Brian Fung.

This event also decided the final placements in the circuit. Singles Circuit Winners will receive Miele Gourmet Dinners and Prize money, Second Place will receive a Tennis Canada Prize Pack and Third Place players an OTA/Sponsor Prize Pack.

The final standings in the Miele Senior Circuit are

35 s   Dave Rowat, Vahid Tahamtan, Dane Smith              

40s    Jason Christie, George Virich, Catalin Codita           

45s    Mike O'Neill, Karl Hale, Jorey Middlestadt & John Murray (Tied)

50s    Gary Meanchos, James Jeffrey Henkelman, Kerry Mitchell

55s    Kerry Mitchell, Avi Singer, Paul Bedard

60s    Sergey Borodulin, Joe Novak, Rosti Brankovsky     

65s    Peter Gonda, John Payne, Brian Fung         

35s    Kanta Murali,  Jennifer Bishop, Liane Marr               

40s    Jennifer Bishop, Paula Myslivecek, Sophia Lynn Ronan

45s    Cindy O’Doherty, Nancy Lin, Janet Hofstra

50s   Erin Boynton,  Janet Vivian Bulger, Kelly Stobbe

55s   Erin Boynton,  Sue Bye, Charlotte Deheinrich

60s   Michelle Hall, Frances Critchley, Natalia Borodulin               

65s   Mary Ann Gaskin,  Cathie Joyce      

Congratulations to everyone who participated in this exciting addition to senior competitive tennis and look out for the Miele Senior Circuit announcements for 2016 to make sure you enter the events that make up the circuit, we expect there to be more opportunities to participate in year two!

BIANCA VANESSA ANDREESCU - OTA PLAYER OF THE MONTH

Wild Card to Runner-Up in Gatineau

Story and Photo by Gavin Murphy

Bianca Vanessa Andreescu entered the 2015 Gatineau National Bank Challenger tennis tournament as a wild card on July 28 and left as runner-up on August 2. The 15 year old from Mississauga played some of her best tennis ever en route to the final of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Pro Circuit tournament before losing to top seed Alexa Glash of the United States 6-4, 6-3.

Prior to the finals the right-handed Andreescu, coached by former French professional player Nathalie Tauziat, was undefeated at the pro level after winning four straight matches in Gatineau. She became the second Canadian to reach the Gatineau finals following Françoise Abanda of Montreal who was runner up in 2014’s inaugural tournament. Although losing to 25 year old Glash, ranked 145 in the world as of August 2015, Andreescu had an impressive run in Gatineau and earned her first 30 Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking points.

The US$25,000 challenger tournament is played outdoors on the hard courts at Parc de I’ile in Gatineau, Quebec, across the Ottawa River from the nation’s capital. The official ball is the Wilson US Open Regular Duty.

The ITF, based in London England, is the governing body of world tennis and the ITF women’s Pro Circuit provides entry level tournaments enabling players to reach the WTA tour. The circuit annually features some 500+ tournaments in 65 countries worldwide and currently has six prize money levels: US$10,000, US$15,000, US$25,000, US$50,000, US$75,000 and US$100,000. The WTA singles ranking list released at the end of 2014 showed that all but two players had, at some point in their career, competed on the ITF Pro Circuit.

Player Profile:

Home town: Mississauga     Club: Tennis Canada NTC   Style: Right Handed (Two-handed backhand)

Bio: Bianca is in the NTC program at the Aviva Centre and is trained by Tennis Canada's coaches.  She is 15 years old and competes in the OTA and National U16 and U18 divisions. This summer Bianca won the U18 national championship in singles and doubles. Highlights of her young career include winning the U16 Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships in girls singles. She is currently ranked #1 provincially in U16 and U18. She is ranked #2 and #3 in National rankings for U16 and U18 respectively.

ILTC OF CANADA CELEBRATES 50 YEARS

The ILTC of Canada celebrated its 50^th year of existence by hosting a team doubles tournament at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club Sept 1-4.

Teams from the International Lawn Tennis Clubs of Austria, Barbados, Germany, Uruguay and USA came to the event. More than 35 Canadian members also played in the competition. Members came from as far as Vancouver and Halifax to participate.  Blessed with excellent weather, if a little on the warm side, there was lots of tennis played in a complex schedule that not only gave the opportunity for all the foreign visitors a chance to play morning and afternoon, but also tried to make the matches as balanced as possible. A total of 70 matches were played in two and a half days with three points being awarded for each match. The winning team was determined by average points per match earned as teams had different numbers of players.  The Austrian team were the winners and the German team came second.

Although the tennis was the primary reason for the event, the visitors were also treated to a full social schedule with a formal dinner on Wednesday evening, a cruise on the lake on Thursday afternoon and a trip to Niagara Falls and a winery on the last day. All the participants were very appreciative of the excellent and generous hospitality at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, in particular the lunches on the balcony, the special dinner and the courts which were in great shape throughout the event. A great time was had by all!

Pictured here are the Uruguayan team. The ladies on the team Tati Ruiz (crouching) and Fiorella Bonicelli (right) were dominant among the ladies and all the competitors and spectators were amazed at the skill and grace of Fiorella who had won the French Open ladies doubles (with Gail Sheriff) in 1976 and mixed doubles (with Thomaz Koch) in 1975 when she was living in France and competing professionally.

The International Lawn Tennis Club was founded in 1924 by A. Wallis Myers in England. The French Club was the next to be formed in 1929. The aims of the club are nicely captured in their motto, “Hands across the net, friendship across the ocean”. For more information you can check out www.ictennis.net . There are currently clubs in 40 countries. To be eligible for membership, players must have achieved a significant national ranking and have represented their country internationally.  More photos of the event can be found at ILTC50photos

DENIS SHAPOVALOV WINS AT US OPEN

Two young Canadians Denis Shapovalov, of Ontario, aged 16 (see photo right) and Felix Auger-Aliassime of Quebec, survived a three hour rain delay during their boys doubles final at the US Open. They had won the first set and were down in the second when they stopped playing. Luckily they were able to pull things together to take the second set in a tie-breaker to take the coveted title, beating Brandon Holt and Riley Smith of the USA.

Stephanie Myles of opencourt.ca put together this slide show to give everyone a taste of their match. Great play guys! DenisandFelixwingrandslamdoubles

Denis had also won the Under 18 national singles and doubles titles just a couple of weeks before. He beat Felix in the boys singles final.

Ontario Players at Junior Nationals

Junior nationals were played over three weeks this year. The under 18s played at Ontario Racquet Club August 14 to 19, the under 12s played at Tennis Tremblant August 19 to 25, the under 16s played at Gatineau Tennis Club August 21 to 26 and the under 14s played at Tennis Tremblant Aug 27 to Sep 2. Eleven of the sixteen singles finalists at junior nationals were from Ontario. Here is a list of those players from Ontario who ended in the the top 6 in singles or reached the semifinals or better in doubles. A spectacular showing at all levels.

U18 Boys Singles: Denis Shapovalov (Ch), Jack Mingjie Lin (3) David Volfson (4), Victor Krustev (5), Ivan Mitric (6). Doubles: Denis Shapovalov (with Alexis Galarneau) (Ch), Jack Mingjie Lin (& Joshua Peck) (F), Malik Bhatnagar & Ivan Mitric (SF), Victor Krustev & Christian Lakoseljac (SF).

U18 Girls Singles: Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (Ch), Vanessa Wong (F), Isabelle Boulais (3), Sofija Zecevic (4), Savanna Ly (5). Doubles: Bianca Vanessa Andreescu & Isabelle Boulais (Ch), Sofiya Babych & Layne Sleeth (F), Anca Craciun & Natasha Irani (SF).

U16 Boys Singles: Victor Krustev (Ch), Ivan Mitric (3), Malik Bhatnagar (4).  Doubles: Victor Krustev (& Nicaise Muamba) (Ch).

U16 Girls Singles: Isabelle Boulais (Ch), Daria Tomashevskaya (F), Anca Craciun (3), Ariana Arseneault (5). Doubles: Isabelle (& Tiffany Lagarde) (Ch), Anca Craciun (& Jessie Gong) (F), Sofiya Babych & Alisia Stephanie Manolescu (SF).

U14  Boys Singles: Liam Draxl (3), Nick Lagaev (5). Doubles: Stefan Storch (& Luka Vukovic) (F),Liam Draxl & Nick Lagaev (SF), Ilya Tirapolsky & Trevor Masi (SF).

U14 Girls Singles: Ariana Arseneault (Ch), Daria Tomashevskaya (4)  Natasha Sengphrachanh (5). Doubles: Ariana Arseneault & Jada Bui (Ch), Natasha Sengphrachanh & Daria Tomashevskaya (SF).

U12 Boys Singles: Ashton Cross (Ch), Marko Stakusic (F), Alex (Xiang) Lu (3). Doubles:  Stefano Liokossis & Alex (Xiang) Lu (F), Ashton Cross & Marko Stakusic (SF)

U12 Girls Singles: Rachel Krzyzak (Ch), Dasha Plekhanova (F). Doubles:  Rachel Krzyzak & Ana Grubor (SF), Yochana Benchetrit & Marina Stakusic (SF).

SENIORS NEWS

Miele Masters Series 

There is still time to enter the final event in the Miele Masters Series to be held Oct 9 to 11 at Mayfair West, Parkway and East. This event is for singles for players of all age categories (5 year breaks) from over 35 to over 65 and includes two special features - a century (combined age over 100) mixed doubles event and a special player reception hosted by Miele at the Miele Gallery in Vaughan. Click on Tournament information to get all the entry details!

Ontario Seniors at Nationals

The Steve Stevens Senior Nationals was played in Montreal the week of August 16 to 22. With more than 400 participants matches were held at 5 clubs with most finals being held at Mount Royal Tennis Club. The other clubs used were Cote St.Luc, Monkland &Woodlands Tennis Clubs.

Congratulations go to the following Ontario players placed in the top 4 in singles or reached the finals in doubles.

MD35 Cameron Cross (& Philippe Pourreaux) (Ch) 

WS 35 Kanta Murali (F) Liane Marr (4)  WD35 Kanta Murali & Liane Marr (Ch)

WS40 Jennifer Bishop (Ch) Sophie Ronan (F), WD40 Jennifer Bishop & Sophie Ronan (Ch)

MD 45 Mike O’Neill (& Martin Lemay) (F)

WS 45 Lucie Lean (F)

MS 50 Gary Meanchos (4)  Gary Meanchos (& Nigel O’Rourke) (Ch)

WS50 Kathy Mueller (4)

MS55 Kerry Mitchell (Ch), Colin McAlpin (F),  MD 55 Fraser Macdonald (& Robert Exell)(Ch)

WD55 Janice Hebert & Susanna Sekely (F)

MS60 Keith Porter (Ch) Rosti Brankovsky (3)  James Cameron (& Steve Yesowick) (Ch), Dennis Ing & Keith Porter (F) WS 60 Michelle Hall (F), Christa Cameron (4), Christa & Michelle (Ch)

MS65 Tim Griffin (Ch)

WS 65 Mary Ann Gaskin (Ch) WD65 Mary Ann Gaskin (& Patricia McLachlan) (F)

MS70 John Tibbits (F), Shaheer Mikhail (4) MD70 Hani Ayoub (& William Berry) (F)

WS 70 Gisela Nouisser (F), WD 70 Jane Seed (& Louise Langston)  (Ch)

MS 75 Guido Weber (F) MD 75 Guido Weber (& Horst Dammholz) (F) 

WS 75 Inge Weber (Ch), Muffie Grieve (2), Evelyn Hustwit (3). (see photo L to R)

MS80 Bob Bedard (Ch) MS85 Lorne Main (Ch)

Photos of this event can be accessed from the Canada Seniors Tennis Facebook page.

Super-seniors leaving soon for Croatia

Several Ontario Players going to Umag and Novigrad, Croatia for the Super Seniors (65 and over) ITF Team Tennis Championships. We wish them safe travels and the best of luck! They are:-

Coby Dommasch, Mary Ann Gaskin, Tim Griffin, Lorne Main, Shaheer Mikhail,  John Payne, John Tibbits, Guido Weber.  TSN prepared a video on Lorne Main which aired during the Rogers Cup....check it out at

Video on Lorne Main

 TSN prepared a video on Lorne Main which aired during the Rogers Cup....check it out at

LorneMainvideo  (you will have to watch ads, another news item (Kraft project) and intro before you get the video).

NEW OTA CONTEST - WHOSE HAND IS THAT?

#GETONTHECOURT  A NEW CONTEST

Do you notice hands? If you do you will enjoy the new #getonthecourt contest in the latest issue of Ontario Tennis magazine!  This example showing Monfils' hand was thought to be too easy - but it makes an attractive photo! Answers and winners will be announced in the November issue of SPIN Monthly.

The Fall issue of Ontario Tennis should be available any day now on line. The theme for the issue is Socially Speaking. Contents include an interview with Gaby Dabrowski, PanAm games gold and silver medallist, articles on Lorne Main and Belinda Bencic and a guide to social media for the uninitiated, along with articles from our regular departments.

The winner of the #getonthecourt Get on Centre Court with Rob Steckley photo contest is being determined this week. To check out the entries you can go to the Ontario Tennis Association Facebook page and scroll down.

You can get to the online versions of Ontario Tennis or the Ontario Tennis Association Facebook page by scrolling down on the www.tennisontario.com home page.

GABY DABROWSKI CELEBRATES PANAM GAMES WIN IN AURORA

On Saturday July 18^th the grass court at Hillary House in Aurora was graced by two very special players at their event to celebrate the Pan Am games. Bob Bedard who won a silver medal in the 1959 Chicago games in men’s singles (see player in photo left) and Gabriela Dabrowski (see player right), who had just won a silver medal in mixed doubles and a gold medal in women’s doubles, showed off their tennis prowess in an exhibition match on the recently restored grass court.

Ontario Tennis took the opportunity to interview Gaby and produced this video of the interview celebrating her appearance at the Pan Am games and this community event.  As Gaby learnt to play tennis on public courts near her home in Ottawa, she is a great believer in and supporter of community tennis.

The Aurora Historical Society special exhibit entitled Tennis In Canada: From Early Beginnings to Global Success. This exhibit includes equipment used by the Hillary family that was found in the house. The Aurora Community Tennis Club was started at the Hillary House courts. The Hillary House museum and the special exhibit are open to the public Wednesday through Saturday from 10am to 4pm and will be open through September.  For more information go to www.aurorahs.com .

ERIN ROUTLIFFE WINS NCAA TITLE AGAIN

Headwaters Racquet Club put on a special celebration to mark the success of Caledon's Erin Routliffe. Erin, a sophomore at University of Alabama, partnered with junior Maya Jansen, to win the NCAA Divison 1 doubles title for the second consecutive year.  They are doubly the pride of the Crimson Tide!! 

Since then, Erin has been playing some Challenger tournaments. At the 2015 National Bank event in Granby held the third week in July Erin got a special surprise as she was paired with former British number 1 and Olympic mixed doubles silver medalist, Laura Robson.  When Erin was told who her partner would be she searched online to see if there was another Laura Robson who played tennis in case she was mistaken. The two meshed nicely and were able to take out the second and fourth seeds before eventually losing in the doubles final. “It was a little intimidating but I was just trying to hold my own, do what I do best on the court and try to help us gel as a doubles team,” Erin commented. “Laura is super nice. She’s awesome.” 

Erin is pictured her with Joanne Pilkey,Director of Racquet Sports at Headwaters Racquet Club.

ROMAN CUP & SPORTING LIFE ONTARIO OPEN

The Roman Cup Memorial Ontario Junior Open and the Sporting Life Ontario Open were held in Ottawa at the Rideau Club between July 29^th and August 3^rd. The Roman Cup was created in honour of local tennis professional Roman Kowalski and signifies his and his family’s passion for and dedication to tennis. These championships have been steadily growing in popularity and this year there were well over four hundred entries.  That’s a lot of tennis!

The champions, finalists and semifinalists in singles and the doubles champions and finalists are listed here. 

U10 Boys Sasha Rozin, Matthew Overvelde,Liam Drover-Mattinen,Chase Stark.

U10 Girls Cadence Brace, Victoria Mboko, Victoria Linkovski, Maria Popova.

U12 BS Aiden Drover-Mattinen, Stefano Liokossis, Marcello Audino, David Gauberg.

BD Stefano Liokossis & Marcello Audino, Joshua Kim & Adrian Smith.

U12 GS Dasha Plekhanova, Catherine Isabelle Denysiewicz-Slowek, Emma Rutherford, Kelly Norkor Dowuona  GD Juliette Begin & Catherine Isabelle Denysiewicz-Slowek, Jessica Luisa Alsola, Dasha Plekhanova

U14 BS Ethan Meanchos, Stefan Storch, Marko Arezina, Ashton Cross.  BD Ethan Meanchos & Alex Oancea, Isaac Ogilvy & Stefan Storch.

U14 GS Natasha Sengphrachanh, Alexandra Mikhailuk, Alexandra Arkhipov, Karin Hamilton. GD Alexia Di Giulio & Natasha Sengphrachanh, Alexandra Arkhipov & Alexandra Mikhailuk.

U16 BS Malik Bhatnagar, Sasha Pachnev, Michel-Alexandre Fortin, Philippe Laroche. BD Malik Bhatnagar & Peter Kuszynski, Michal Ostrzygalo & Oscar Yang.

U16 GS Ashleigh Jacobs, Noemie Lapointe, Natasha Sengphrachanh, Laura Crivei. GD Laura Crivei & Betina Stanescu, Rita Colyer & Natasha Sengphrachanh.

U18 BS Clarke Wilson, Roy Stepanov, Joshua Robert Wilson, Simon Stoula. BD Hielke Moore & Roy Stepanov, Marc Isaia & Clarke Wilson.

U18 GS Ashleigh Jacobs, Anna Philp, Tiara Higuchi, Rhea Verma. GD Tiara Higuchi & Anna Philp, Ashleigh Jacobs & Sophia Kateryna Storch.

Sporting Life Ontario Open

MS Serge Oliver Becerra, Egor Koleganov, Julien Belair, Sam Philp. MD Julien Belair & Alain Jr P Humblet, Serge Oliver Becerra & Jesse Flores.

WS Petra Januskova, Sandra Dynka, Ekaterina Shulaeva, Anne-Sophie Courteau. WD Anne-Sophie Courteau & Petra Januskova, Leigh Bradwell & Ekaterina Shulaeva.

Singles champions Serge Oliver Becerra and Petra Januskova are pictured here with the Ontario Open permanent trophies.

Congratulations to all the champions and players who saw success and a big thank you to the OTA staff, the officials, the Rideau Club and all the parents and players who helped make sure that this event was completed and that this highlight of the summer played on the long weekend in the middle of summer was such a great success.  There was even a 128 draw one-point tournament played to keep things fun and light!