GRASS COURT IN AURORA OFFICIALLY OPENED

On Monday July 6, 2015 the Hillary House Tennis Court was officially opened for play! After months of preparation and help from partners such as Advanced Tree Care, Zander Sod, Timberlane, and the Town of Aurora, it was finally ready. MP Lois Brown came for the official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and to say a few words on behalf of the federal government for their generous contribution towards the Aurora Historical Society and all of their Pan Am Activities. 40 members of the tennis community who have supported the AHS in this project were on hand and dressed appropriately to recreate a 1913 photograph of the Aurora Tennis Club in the very same place on the Hillary House North Lawn. (see original and recreation below).

Five Canadian Tennis Hall of Famers, who are current residents of the Aurora area were also there for the celebration – Bob Bedard, Lawrie Strong, Bren Macken, Ken Sinclair (pictured here) and Harry Fauquier.  Bob Bedard, who won a silver medal in men's singles in the 1959 Pan Am games, participated in an inaugural tennis exhibition match on the court.

The grant from the Federal Government,  in the Year of Sport and associated with the Pan Am and Parapan Am Games,has helped  the Aurora Historical Society develop a 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.

There will be special Pan Am and Parapan Am Games celebrations, including exhibition matches and themed refreshments on July 18, 19 and 25 and on August 8^th.  For more information please go to www.aurorahs.com .

MIELE SENIOR PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Miele Ontario Senior Provincial Championships were held July 8 to 12 at three clubs around the GTA.  The young seniors (over 35 to Over 45) played at Lambton Golf and Country Club, the seniors (over 50 to over 60) played at Bayview Golf and Country Club and the super-seniors (over 65 to over 85) played at Missisauga Golf and Country Club.

The Champions and finalists for all the events are listed below.  For singles events the two semi-finalists are listed. Where the results were determined in round robin play the top 3 are listed in order.

Particular congratulations to those players who won two titles, like Paula Myslivecek who won over 40 singles and over 35 doubles, Sergey Borodulin – over 60 singles and doubles, Erin Boynton and Kerry Mitchell who both won over 50 and over 55 singles and Fraser Macdonald and Owen Pellew who won over 50 and over 55 doubles.  

Pictured here are women’s over 55 doubles finalists and champions. Left to right: Akemi Seiriki, Sue Rosenthal, Janice Hebert and Susanna Sekely.

Thanks to our host clubs and their staff for putting on these events, particularly at a time when the city is focussed on the Pan Am Games.

A quick reminder to all seniors out there!  Friday July 17^th  is the last date for entries for the Steve Stevens Senior National Championships in Montreal.  To enter now click on Steve Stevens Senior Nationals

Men’s Singles  O35 Dave Rowat, Giovanni Schiavo. Semis: Howard Blitstein, Joshua Burnett

Men’s Doubles  O35 Miron Cehajic & Peter Giacomelli, Dino Ferrari  & Elio Monaco

Women’s Singles O35 Kanta Murali,  Liane Marr,  Carolina Carvalho

Men’s Singles  O40 George Virich, Ivan Balic. Semis:  Giovanni Schiavo, Donovan Halliburton

Women’s Singles O40 Paula Myslivecek, Jennifer Bishop. Semis: Sharon Yermus, Patty Thornicroft

Women’s Doubles O 35/40 Paula Myslivecek & Jennifer Bishop,  Liane Marr & Kanta Murali

Men’s Singles  O45 Mike O’Neill, Jorey Middlestadt. Semis: Dan Deangelis, Ivan Balic

Men’s Doubles  O45 Colin Doll & Mike O’Neill, Davif Ellison & Eliot Macdonald

Women’s Singles O45 Janet Hofstra, Nancy Lin, Eva Miller

Women’s Doubles O45 Marijan Lindsay & Eva Miller, Sandra Cimetta & Pam Killeen

Men’s Singles  O50 Kerry Mitchell, Don Haliburton. Semis: Colin Doll, Geoff Bower

Men’s Doubles  O50  Fraser Macdonald & Owen Pellew, Robert Donders & James Henkelman

Women’s Singles O50 Erin Boynton, Janet Bulger. Semis: Cathy Mackie, Kelly Stobbe

Women’s Doubles O50 Pam Killeen & Nicola Von Schroeter,  Stacey Arbeiter & Cindy O’Doherty

Men’s Singles  O55  Kerry Mitchell, Paul Bedard. Semis: James Boyce, Derek Prada

Men’s Doubles  O55 Fraser Macdonald & Owen Pellew, Robert Beaudin & Derek Prada

Women’s Singles O55 Erin Boynton, Susanna Sekely. Semis: Janice Hebert, Charlotte Deheinrich

Women’s Doubles O55  Janice Hebert & Susanna Sekely, Sue Rosenthal & Akemi Seiriki

Men’s Singles  O60  Sergey Borodulin, Barry Goman. Semis: Barnaby Kalan, Joe Del Corso

Men’s Doubles  O60  Sergey Borodulin & Rosti Brankovsky, James Boyce & Dennis Ing

Women’s Singles O60 Michelle Hall, Frances Critchley, Charlotte Deheinrich

Men’s Singles  O65 Terry Redvers, Peter Bonfa. Semis: Peter Gonda, John Payne

Men’s Doubles  O65 Peter Bonfa & Peter Gonda,  John Payne & Terry Redvers

Men’s Singles  O70  John Tibbits, Hani Ayoub. Semis: Bob Bedard, William Berry

Men’s Doubles  O70 Hani Ayoub & John Yeomans, William Berry & Guido Weber

Women’s Singles O70 Gisela Nouisser, Christine Kingsley. Semis: Anne Rungi, Claude Cherniak

Women’s Doubles O70  Christine Kingsley & Anne Rungi, Marlene Dermastja & Gisela Nouisser

Men’s Singles  O75  Guido Weber, Adrian Grice. Semis: Bob Awrey, Cecil Stokoe

Men’s Doubles  O75 Bob Martin & William Rankin, Adrian Grice & John Swinden

Men’s Singles O80  Henry Prusinowski, Bogard Messow, William Webster

Men’s Doubles  O80 Henry Prusinowski & William Webster,  Richard Arnold & Morton Katz

Men’s Singles  O85 Richard Arnold, Steve Glavin

ONTARIO PLAYERS REPRESENT CANADA VERY WELL

Pan Am Games

Congratulations to Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa who completed the TO2015 Pan Am games with two medals as souvenirs!

Gaby reached the final in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles. On the last day of tennis competition Gaby and partner Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, who was selected when Sharon Fichman of Toronto was unable to play, took the gold medal in women's doubles.  They beat the team of Mariana Duque Marino of Columbia and Victoria Rodrigues of Mexico in the final 6-1,4-6, 10-5. Interestingly Gaby and Carol had both lost in the quarter final of the women's singles to one of the players they played in the doubles final. Gaby had lost to Duque Marino and Carol to Rodriguez.This medal win is particularly special as it is the first time a Canadian tennis player has won a gold medal in the Pan Am games. Carol (left) and Gaby (right) show off their gold medals with coach Andrea Rabzak. Way to go girls!

Gaby is pictured here with her partner Philip Bester of Vancouver showing off their silver medal. They played the final of the mixed doubles on Wednesday and lost to the Argentinian team of Guido Andreozzi and Marua Irigoyen.

Brayden Schnur had a good tournament playing in the men’s singles and doubles. He will leave with memories of a good run which included beating the #7 seed Darian King of Barbados in the second round before losing to Dennis Novikov of the USA in quarter-finals.

Peter Polansky of Thornhill also played men’s singles. He lost in the second round.

Davis Cup

The weekend of July 17 to 19, Canada’s men’s squad will be competing in the quarter finals of Davis Cup against Belgium.  Team Canada will be without its two star players, Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil.  Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls will be the number 1 singles player. Philip Peliwo of Vancouver will also plays singles.  Veteran Daniel Nestor of Toronto will team up with Davis Cup rookie, but seasoned doubles player, Adil Shamasdin of Pickering. Shamasdin is a doubles specialist with a career-high ranking of No. 55 achieved in April of this year. Currently at No. 65, Shamasdin captured his second career ATP World Tour doubles title earlier year at Casablanca with Rameez Junaid.

This is Adil’s first nomination to the Canadian Davis Cup squad after travelling with the team as a hitting partner for the past two years. We are very pleased to see Adil get a chance to represent his country in such a significant event.

Photo of Adil courtesy of Peter Figura.

Go Canada!

ONTARIO SENIOR MIXED DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP

The Wilson Ontario Senior Mixed Doubles celebrated it's 50 anniversary with a great weekend of tennis at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club on June 19 to 21.  More than 115 players competed in age category events, Over 30,40 50.60 and 70 as well as a special century (total age 100) event. This was so successful that the organizers plan to keep the same entire format for next year.

The winners and finalists were as follows:

Junior Masters: Karla Mancinas and Kevin Chang; Leigh Bradwell and Ravi Mehta. Consolation:Mariam AlShikarchy and Matt Vrooman; Suzan Reisman and Andrew Podnieks.

Seniors: Jennifer Bishop and Jason Christie; Julie Staples and Garrett Prins. Consolation: Lesley McCLure and David Lee; Nancy Behm and Eugen Malea.

Masters: Pauline Noteboom and Owen Pellew; Kelly Stobbe and Paul Kingston. Consolation: Martina and Rosti Brankovsky; Linda Love and Dennis Ing.

Grand Masters: Anke Magnus and Jim Boyce; Mary Ann Gaskin and John Payne. Consolation: Margie Lansens and Ryan Treffers; Varda Jourdan and Christopher Albertyn.

Legends: Christine Kingsley and Peter White; Inge and Guido Weber. Consolation: Gerti and Gerhard Weiss; Ingrid Moore and Bob Awrey.

Century: Jennifer Bishop and Joe Murphy; Jane Mitchell and Coulter Wright. Consolation: Leigh and Norm Bradwell; Heather and Ian Cruickshank.

Thanks to Mike McLoughlin and his daughter, Stephanie, Ravi Mehta, Kelly Stobbe and everyone at the Toronto Lawn who helped make the event a great success and to Doug Coombs of Wilson Sports for their sponsorship and the racquet bags which were a gift to all participants.

Unfortunately, Steve Stevens was unable to amuse us with one of his speeches at the Saturday evening dinner but I’m sure he would have been delighted to see so many people attending this event.  He was able to come to the club on Sunday to watch some of the finals (see photo above with the winners of the seniors and junior masters).

ONTARIO JUNIOR CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Ontario Outdoor Junior Closed Provincial Championships were held in the two weeks leading up to July 4^th.  Thanks to the Kew Gardens Tennis Club, the Donalda Club, the Veneto Club, Thornhill Golf and Country Club and the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus for hosting these events.

Congratulations to all of those who qualified for the event and for your participation.  There is some very impressive tennis played at this event. The top 6 singles players (all singles events have full feed in consolation) and the doubles champions and finalists are list here.

U12 Girls’ Singles:  Dasha Plekhanova, Samantha Horwood, Jessica Luisa Alsola, Ana Grubor, Marina Stakusic, Sheena Karrasch

U12 Girls’ Doubles: Sheena Karrasch & Samantha Horwood, Arina Artemyeva & Dasha Plekhanova

U12 Boys’ Singles: Akhil Malik, David Gauberg, Alessandro Sant’Angelo, Oscar Roy, Spencer Keung, Kirill Chepushtanov

U12 Boys’ Doubles: David Gauberg & Stefano Liokossis, Oscar Roy & Matei Vucenovic

U14 Girls’ Singles: Ariana Arseneault, Jade Bui, Alisia Stephanie Manolescu, Sofia Kostirko, Corina Spasojevic, Natasha Sengphrachanh

U14 Girls’ Doubles: Jade Bui & Ariana Arseneault, Corina Spasojevic & Alisia Stephanie Manolescu (see photo from right to left as they start a new tradition for trophy photos)

U14 Boys’ Singles: Liam Draxl, Alex Oancea, Ethan Meanchos, Ilya Tirapolsky, Dan Pergel, Joshua Cadiz-Ramcharitar

U14 Boys’ Doubles: Ethan Meanchos & Liam Draxl, Isaac Ogilvy & Ilya Tirapolsky

U16 Girls’ Singles: Layne Sleeth, Alisia Stephanie Manolescu, Daniela Voloh, Sofia Kostirko, Ariana Arseneault, Corina Spasojevic

U16 Girls’ Doubles: Ariana Arseneault & Layne Sleeth, Natasha Irani & Emma Miceli

U16 Boys’ Singles: Liam Draxl, Ivan Mitric, Zac Faveri, Paul Olteanu, Peter Kuszynski, Ryan Navarro

U16 Boys’ Doubles: Liam Draxl & Ryan Navarro, Zac Faveri & Ivan Mitric

U18 Girls’ Singles: Natasha Irani, Anca Craciun, Sofiya Babych, Rhea Verma, Ines Milosevic, Katarina Kopcalic

U18 Girls’ Doubles: Katarina Kopcalic & Ines Milosevic, Anca Craciun & Natasha Irani

U18 Boys’ Singles: Clarke Wilson, Ivan Mitric, Brett Stinson, Sean Huynh, Eli Ogilvy, Marc Isaia

U18 Boys’ Doubles: Sean Huynh & Eli Ogilvy, Clarke Wilson & Nemanja Guzina

Jade Bui receives the Bruce Birmingham Fair Play Award from Betty Birmingham with Jim Boyce (L) and Kartikk Vyas (R)