The Canadian Olympic Committee
(COC) and Tennis Canada have announced the names of six athletes who will represent Canada at the TORONTO 2015 Pan
American Games from July 10 to 26 at the Canadian Tennis Centre, recently
renamed the Aviva Centre. The team was determined based on the ATP World Tour
and WTA world rankings as of June 1, 2015.
The women’s roster will feature
rising star, 18 year-old Françoise Abanda, of Quebec, Canada’s No. 2-ranked
singles player Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa (see photo above) and Sharon Fichman of Toronto. Dabrowski
and Fichman, who regularly play together at Fed Cup, will represent Canada in the
women’s doubles event.
Philip Bester of BC, Peter
Polansky of Thornhill and Brayden Schnur of Pickering form the men’s team.
These three players have won 21 professional-level singles titles between them.
Brayden Schnur is currently a top-ranked NCAA Division I athlete at the
University of North Carolina. Polansky holds the highest-career ranking of the
trio at world No. 122. Bester and Schnur will represent Canada’s in the men’s
doubles. Bester and Dabrowski will
compete in the mixed doubles draw.
Sharon Fichman (see photo here) is particularly thrilled to be competing in the games. “It always means so much to me to represent Canada and being able to play for my country at the Pan Am Games in my own hometown will be an even bigger honour. Being on the pro tour means I rarely get to spend time at home, so the chance to compete at such a big event in front of my friends and family is so special. I’m very excited for the summer and hope to make everyone proud!”
