JUNIORS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Under 12 Ontario Junior Team Tennis Championships

The U12 Ontario Junior Team Championships were hosted by ACE Tennis at Cedar Springs Health, Racquet and Sportsclub in Burlington, Ontario early in May. A total of 12 teams competed; 4 teams from ACE Burlington, 2 teams from ACE Toronto Tennis City, 2 teams from TTA - Toronto Tennis Academy, 1 team from Tennis Alberta and 3 mixed teams.  The players exhibited great tennis and competition, accompanied by overwhelming support from teammates, coaches and parents. 

ACE Burlington Team #1, coached by Brandon Alguire came out on top (see photo), with a close second place finish by the ACE TTC Team #1, coached by Craig Mercer. In third place was TTA Team #1, coached by Jon Kudjerski, followed by Tennis Alberta in fourth place, coached by Josh Sandwell. 

Canadian Teams Advance to World Finals

Thanks to second-place finishes across the board in the North/Central America and Caribbean qualifying tournament in Boca Raton, Florida, Canada has earned spots in the finals of the U14 World Junior Tennis Championships and U16 Junior Davis and the U16 Junior Federation Cups. Canada finished second to the United States in all four round-robin tournaments..

In the U14 event Canada was represented by Alex-Antoine Marquis of Quebec, Luka Vukovic of B.C. and Nick Lagaev of Ontario in the  boys’ event and Viktoriya Tabunshchyk of Ontario, Ariana Arseneault of Ontario and Leyla Fernandez of Quebec in the girls event (see photo with coach Dean Coburn above).

In the junior Davis Cup Team Canada was Denis Shapovalov of Ontario, Benjamin Sigouin of B.C. and Jack Mingjie Lin of Ontario (see photo L to R from when this team played U14 below). Charlotte Robillard-Millette of Quebec, Katherine Sebov and Vanessa Wong, both from Ontario, made up the Junior Federation Cup team members.

The World Junior Tennis finals will take place in Prostejov, Czech Republic in August. The Junior Davis Cup and Fed Cup finals will be held September 29 – October 4 in Madrid. Both events are considered the world team championships for their age groups. Last year, the Canadian U14 team finished in second place.

Katarina Kopcalic Wins in Tunisia

Seventeen year old Canadian Katarina Kopcalic (see photo with her father and the trophy) captured her first ITF junior singles title at a Grade 3 event in Tunisia.

Seeded eighth in the draw, Kopcalic took out the tournament’s first, and fourth seeds on her way to the final and beat third-seeded Zani Barnard of South Africa 6-7(1), 6-1, 6-1 to take the trophy.

Bianca Andreescu Reaches Final in France

At  Beaulieu-sur-Mer in the south of Frace, Bianca Andreescu faced fellow Canadian Charlotte Robillard-Millette in the final of the grade 1 event. Bianca, who won the U16 Orange Bowl title in December, wasn’t able to clinch the title this time but continues to pile up some great results.