Diary of a Region Chair
January 11, 2026
We’ve begun the new year with a mega-dose of nostalgia, as Milos Raonic announced his retirement from professional tennis today.
It’s been exactly 15 years since his breakthrough at the 2011 Australian Open, earning entry into the main draw of a Slam for the first time. He was the #16 qualifier (of 16 total), with players such as Grigor Dimitrov and Frank Dancevic ahead of him on the list of those with three wins in the qualifying tournament. The 20-year-old seized his chance, winning three more matches and beating two seeded players before running out of steam against David Ferrer in the 4th round. Three weeks later, he won the ATP tournament at San Jose. His ranking soared from #152 to #37 in a month, and the tennis landscape in Canada changed forever.
Enjoy some of the tributes and some of the memories :
November 23, 2025
The annual gathering of SouthWest Region volunteers was held on November 23rd at Tyandaga Golf Course in Burlington. The region includes Halton, Hamilton, Niagara and Haldimand-Norfolk, with most clubs being represented at the event.
Among the conversation topics were recycling tennis balls, youth development within our clubs, combining social and competition events among our clubs, the contrast between university tennis in Canada and the USA. Richard Mainella and Ely Schwartz were the headliners, and led discussion about programs organized by the OTA office to support club activities.
The 2026 meeting is scheduled for November 22nd, at Tyandaga once again. A new Region Chair is to be elected at that time.
November 21, 2025
It was a red-letter day in Burlington, as Victoria Mboko was honoured with a Key to the City ceremony. Fans, media and well-wishers filled the atrium of the Bateman Community Centre for the event, as the city celebrated the determination and achievements which have made her a beacon for young people and a hometown champion.
Mayor Marianne Meed Ward led a bevy of speakers who had high praise for the 19-year-old superstar. Vicky handled it all with grace, and charmed everyone with her acceptance remarks.
Read the WTA Tour account of the event here :
November 16, 2025
Vicky Mboko played in her second Billie Jean King Cup playoffs and had a decisive role in a comprehensive team effort. The weekend of November 14-16 saw Team Canada gather with teams from Denmark and Mexico, in Monterrey Mexico. Vicky was undefeated (bringing her BJK Cup record to 5-0), but the most memorable match may have been a deciding doubles played alongside Gabriela Dabrowski.
“The energy was amazing. They looked like they were having so much fun playing together,” said team captain Marie-Eve Pelletier. “I think I was smiling the whole time.”
Canada advances to the 2026 top group of 14 nations, with the next encounter in April.
Read Pete Borkowski’s accounts for Tennis Canada here & here.
And a summary of the 2025 BJK Cup playoffs here.
With more from Captain Marie-Eve Pelletier here.
November 9, 2025
It’s been an incredible year for Milton’s Andrea Cabio and Oakville’s Lily Rochon. They won national singles titles at U16 and U18 respectively, and played together on the gold-medal- winning Canada Games team. November brought another memorable adventure, as they formed Team Canada (along with Laurence Demers) for the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors.
BJK Cup Juniors is the premier international team competition for girls aged 16 and under, and the top 16 nations gathered in Santiago Chile from November 3-9 for the finals.
Canada’s group included France, Great Britain and Australia. Although they were on the short end of the team score each time, they had their moments as Andrea and Laurence won two of their three doubles matches in cliffhanger fashion. Versus France, it was 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-8. And versus Australia, it was 3-6, 7-6 (11), 10-8. Andrea also had a singles win versus Great Britain.
Team USA are the 2025 champions, beating Team Czechia in the final match. Check out all the
results here.
November 8, 2025
The Milton TC AGM featured a special ceremony to honour the service of the truly exceptional Susan Kitamura, who was retiring as president after serving in that capacity since 2014. It was a dozen years of incredible growth at the club, including reconstruction of the courts and addition of the winter bubble in 2018. Highlights included hosting Canadian National Championships (Fischer Under 16) in 2021 and 2022, and a gala celebration for the club’s 100th anniversary in 1923.
With over 1000 members in one of the fastest-growing communities in Canada, the challenge is enormous. Susan took it on with vision and determination, inspiring all the committees that provide the details and the connections for a volunteer-led community club.
Learn more about the Milton Tennis Club in the LIBRARY section.
November 2, 2025
When we’re not featuring our own local SWR happenings in this space, we’re usually talking about professional tennis or national championships. But there are very interesting blogs and podcasts about tennis of the “everywhere for everyone” variety. Today marked the launch of a new podcast called Bagel Bagel, with host Lia Picard. See link here to the podcast, and also one to an article that was featured in VOGUE in August. It might bring a smile of “been there … done that”.
Here’s another good blog, called HARDhitting with Melissa Kenny. How does the term “adult-onset tennis player” strike you?
November 2, 2025
Congratulations to Victoria Mboko, newly-crowned champion off the WTA 250 Hong Kong Open. The final with Cristina Bucsa was the longest (2:49) of the WTA 2025 season, finishing with a score of 7-5, 6-7 (9-11), 6-2. It came after wins over Leylah Fernandez, Anna Kalinskaya, Alexandra Eala, and Talia Gibson, and catapults Vicky to #18 in the WTA rankings.
Now it’s on to Monterey Mexico with her teammates for the Billie Jean King Cup matches on November 15-16. Canada plays Denmark and Mexico, with the winner advancing to the 2026 Qualifiers. Read the Tennis Canada preview HERE.
Read the Tennis Canada story by Jonathan Chan HERE.
And the riveting details of how the match unfolded HERE.
October 28, 2025
To say tennis is multi-dimensional is surely an understatement. There’s so much to our wonderful sport – with multiple playing levels and experiences, all ages, all across the world, and back through 150 years of time. Facts and figures tell us some of it, but stories are so much more fun to read. Both the ATP Tour and the WTA Tour have been featuring more stories lately. Here are two today that shed some light on two of our favourite Canadian superstars.
Read about Gabriel Diallo here.
And about Denis Shapovalov here.
October 22, 2025
Yet another grand court reconstruction project is underway, this one at the opposite end of SWR from Fort Erie (ref. October 9th entry). Congratulations to the City of Oakville, to the Wallace Park TC, and to club president Peter Moulson on this long-awaited project. Players enjoyed the old courts through to the beginning of October, then gave way for the demolition that preceded the painstaking job of building a perfect base for the new courts.
The conceptual plan for the new layout is included on the Oakville website.
Wallace Park TC celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2023. Check out the club website.
October 19, 2025
No complaints when the diary needs to make room for more big Canadian tennis results. Congratulations to Leylah Fernandez, the new champion of the Kinoshita Group Japan Open in Osaka. It moves her to the #21 WTA ranking, one spot ahead of Victoria Mboko to regain the #1 spot in Canada.
And congratulations to Felix Auger-Aliassime on his win at the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open in Brussels, Belgium. Felix played exceptionally well on this stretch of the tour in 2022, and things are looking promising for more of the same. He now has eight singles titles, equal to the number won by Milos Raonic.
Frederic Fontang has been FAA’s coach for several years and was featured on the ATP website just before the win in Brussels. Click here to read the story.
Click here to read a summary of Leylah’s career by Francesco Tosini on the Tennis Canada website.
October 9, 2025
Congratulations to the Town of Fort Erie, to the Fort Erie Tennis Club, and to Club President Bill Pinto on the reconstruction of the club’s four hard tennis courts.
The much-needed project has been years in the planning. It includes new fencing and lights on the two hartru courts and the east-west practice court as well as on the four main hard courts. Demolition began right after Labour Day and the weather conditions have been ideal. Once the top layers are in place, they’ll cure over the winter. Acrylic coatings and finishing touches will come in the spring.
The picturesque border town has a rich history and is a rapidly growing community. We can hardly wait for the Grand Opening!
October 4, 2025
The jam-packed OUA Tennis schedule continues until the final matches on Thanksgiving weekend. Today marked the last round to be played on the courts at Niagara-on-the-Lake TC, with Brock hosting Waterloo.
One of the features of the fall circuit is the parents who travel to the matches to cheer on the players and their teammates. On the left are Jivco and Ranka Uncianschi, who drove from Kitchener to watch their son Jivco play for the visiting team.
On the right are Oliver Barkovic (from Hamilton) and his daughter, Fiona, in her second year on the Brock team. Oliver has travelled to most of Fiona’s matches, prompting him to conclude that OUA tennis holds promise for a great deal more than at present. He’s developed an extensive proposal called Elevating Canadian University Tennis, Strategic Action Plan. Ollie welcomes conversation on the subject and can be reached at ol*************@***il.com if you’d like to discuss his work.
Thanks to Tady Saczkowski for the team photos!
September 18, 2025
Some will recall that the Laver Cup is my favourite tennis event of the year, and this time it was in SanFrancisco. It’s always nice when the red team wins. [That’s us : The World. The blue team is Europe.] There were no Canadians on the team this year, but we’ll hope that will change in 2026 when the event returns to the 2022 venue in London.
The coin toss for Match #7 was a crowd-pleaser : Taylor Fritz, Roger Federer, Steph Curry, Carlos Alcaraz. Read about their match here:
https://www.atptour.com/en/news/alcaraz-fritz-laver-cup-2025-saturday
And here’s an article that summarizes the entire event :
https://lavercup.com/news/2025/09/21/captain-agassi-guides-team-world-to-laver-cup-glory
Here’s an article if you’d like to read an opinion about the event : TheSecondServe.com
September 9 and September 20, 2025
Those dates are now inscribed in the diaries of two Canadian tennis stars as their wedding anniversaries. On September 9th, Denis Shapovalov and Mirjam Bjorkland were married in a beautiful setting in Zakynthos, Greece. Mirjam is a professional tennis player from Sweden.
On September 20th, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Nina Ghaibi were married in an elaborate ceremony in Marrakech, Morocco. Nina is a professional equestrian and is from Morocco.
It’s now 10 years since Denis and Felix teamed up to win the US Open Boys Doubles in 2015, then a few weeks later the Junior Davis Cup. They’re both enjoying successful professional careers and are currently ranked in the top 32 which gives them seeding at all major events. It’s very special when tennis dreams really do come true.
September 13, 2025
Continuing a longstanding tradition, the Grimsby Tennis Club raised $13,425 at its annual fundraising event. This year’s beneficiary is McNally House Hospice, a wonderful community service which clearly resonated with many donors. A total of 16 players rallied on the evening of the finale, with a great many members posting donations online or purchasing tickets for the raffle at the club.
Fund-raising has been part of the club’s annual calendar for at least 15 years, with a variety of local services being supported. Leadership matters for such events, and Ron and Mary Lou Mauro are exemplary in this regard. They embody the supportive and caring culture within the club, always mindful that tennis exists in the context of the larger community.
September 6, 2025
This was a red-letter day for the Niagara-on-the-Lake Tennis Club as it embarked on a new chapter : hosting some of the home games for Brock University. First visiting team was from the University of Ottawa, and it was terrific to have so many great young people filling the courts.
Norma Rodriguez does a wonderful job of documenting the Brock teams on Instagram. You can see photos and results of all the matches on Instagram Post 1 & Instagram Post 2 :
Photos by Tady Saczkowski
September 5, 2025
Congratulations to Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe on their second US Open doubles title. In the semi-finals, they defeated Jasmine Paolini & Sara Errani (2025 French Open champions). In the final, they defeated Taylor Townsend & Katarina Siniakova (#1 seeds), who had beaten the 2025 Wimbledon champions (Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens) as well as the wonderful duo of Venus Williams & Leylah Fernandez along the way. It was a huge victory for Gabi and Erin, reprising their 2023 win and also securing a place in the WTA yearend final-8.
The champagne celebration was made extra-special by having Harry Greenan and Sonja (Molnar) Palmer on hand. They’re from Royal City TC in Guelph, which is Erin’s tennis north-star.
The Tennis Canada story can be found HERE.
US Open videos HERE.
And there’s more on the Control the Controllables podcast with Dan Kiernan :
The final weekend at the US Open was also notable for the appreciation directed to Stacey Allaster by the women’s and men’s singles finalists. It was Stacey’s final time to lead the tournament, after several years during which she did “the impossible” over and over again. Congratulations, Stacey!
Read the tributes to Stacey, and much more about her illustrious career and contributions to the world of tennis in our LIBRARY.
September 1, 2025
The new St Catharines Tennis Club courts are located in Merritton – a city neighbourhood with a long history (including a tennis club founded in the 1920s and operating up to the wartime 40s). A signature feature of the neighbourhood is the annual Merritton Labour Day Parade. This year was the 79th annual event and featured 52 groups of every shape and size.
John Pilling and Anne Kravchenko dazzled the spectators along the way, volleying across the road for the entire two kilometre parade route. Club president Chris Richard anchored the group in his truck, while Onur Erginer, Leanne Richard and Larry Greenspan shelled out treats as well as shirts to the kids who joined in the volley fun. Larry added to the tennis-is-for-vitality impression by travelling on roller blades.
Simon Burden had the National Bank OTA Roadshow smash cage set up on the tennis courts for the party in the park at the conclusion of the parade. It attracted lots of attention and inquiries from families about services and programs at the club.
August 17, 2025
The remarkable run of mega wins by Canadian players continued with the doubles title at Cincinnati being claimed by Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe. It’s the first WTA1000 title for the pair, alongside their previous huge wins at the US Open and the WTA Finals.
Gabriela has been willing to share her experiences with cancer last year, which makes this triumph all the sweeter. Read more about her journey.
Read Francesco Tosini’s report for Tennis Canada.
And the WTA story.
August 16, 2025
A delightful Girls-Set-Match event was hosted at Rosedale TC in Hamilton, with 16 beautiful girls ages 10-14. Diana Mirceta managed the event, with Mia Soccio and Hannah Malus as her wonderful Court Captains. Toni Ormond brought her experience and expertise as Program Manager, Women and Girls, with Tennis Canada.
The program is designed to provide girls with a tennis experience that contrasts with their usual tennis tournament routines. Players generally arrive at tournaments with a focus only on their own preparation, and with a desire to win their games. It leaves little room for socializing and sharing their love of tennis with the other competitors.
A Girls-Set-Match day includes a variety of games and activities designed to bring the girls together, to encourage risk-taking and opening up to each other. They excelled at activities like journal entries and happily worked together in groups. They also did a lot of running, hit a great many tennis balls and worked up a good appetite for a healthy lunch together in the beautiful courtyard.
Thanks to National Bank, Tennis Canada and OTA for bringing us this great program.
August 14, 2025
Mischa and Marcela Mackesy have been teaching tennis and fitness under the Court Masters banner for over 30 years. If the Energizer Bunny ever came to life in human form, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Mischa.
His energetic and popular program at Hamilton TC includes lessons for children – both after-school in the spring, then in the mornings during the summer, along with a comprehensive program of clinics, fitness, lessons and tournaments for the adult members.
Matt Midgley was the assistant coach on the day this photo was taken, enjoying his summer break as a teacher at historic Tapleytown School. The players were very happy at the end of their games for the day.
August 9, 2025
Tennis Canada and the OTA work diligently to design programs that can be applied at our clubs within our Regions. There are always a lot of moving parts, and we don’t often stop to appreciate how much collaboration and coordination are involved. Today, for a third year running, the Burlington TC hosted a Tennis Rocks! event, designed to provide team competition for young players at the club level. The event has had an impressive impact on the club, with the junior program evolving to provide a complete range of development opportunities – not only for tournament players, but for club players as well. Everyone enjoys competition when the playing field is level.
But most of the heavy lifting on the day is done by amazing volunteers – parents who worked tirelessly in the heat and the pressure to maintain food and beverage services and attend to all the other myriad details involved in making it a memorable experience for players and families who come from near and far.
Watch for more on this special day in a feature Story to come soon.
August 9, 2025
The Canada Games began today with a gala Opening Ceremony in St John’s Newfoundland. Each provincial team includes 8 athletes for tennis : 4 boys and 4 girls. All are U18, with at least half being U16. There are 19 sports and almost 5000 athletes and support staff.
Tennis Team Ontario includes two players from SouthWest Region : Andrea Cabio (Milton) and Lily Rochon (Oakville). Rounding out the team: Benjamin Azar, Callum McKinnon, Josh Adamson, Kye McDadi, Nadia Lagaev, Zoya Chulak. Team coach is Bobby Mahal (Director of Tennis, ATI Academy) and Team manager is Laura Borza (Head Pro, Wanless Park TC).
The team won a bronze medal at the 2022 Canada Games. We wish them continued success over the coming days! Follow the action with Score & Stats or watch live coverage on Canada Games. Watch the CBC video / Read the CBC article.
Jennifer Bishop – 2025 Canada Games Hall of Honour
Opening ceremony photos by Matthew Murnaghan/Canada Games
Update: August 15, 2025. Congratulations to Team Ontario, champions and winners of the gold medal! You can read about all the exciting matches in William Beaulieu’s great report.
August 7, 2025
This was day that Victoria Mboko won the National Bank Open, her country’s major championship, before a deliriously happy packed house at Montreal’s Stade IGA.
Naomi Osaka was the 4th grand slam champion in Vicky’s draw, and the final one to be on the short end of the score. Much more will be gathered in a Story format, but the moment has to be here as well … in the midst of this remarkable summer for Canadian professional tennis players.
Congratulations, Vicky! You make our spirits soar!
Read Melissa Boyd’s summary for Tennis Canada.
August 6, 2025
The Fischer Under 16 Outdoor Nationals took place at The Granite Club in Toronto from July 29 to August 6. Congratulations to Andrea Cabio (Milton) on her first national singles title. It was an all-SouthWest final as Payton Dith (St Catharines) came through qualifying to win a total of 6 matches before the final.
Also doing well in the tournament was Evan Xie (Joshua Creek), reaching the quarter-finals of the boys singles. Mariya Marinova (Joshua Creek) competed in the first round of girls singles. Lucian Enns (Oakville) and Clara Tiong (Joshua Creek) competed in the qualifying events.
Read more on TennisCanada.com
August 5, 2025
Gabriel Rădulescu îs the long-time teaching pro at Tyandaga TC in Burlington, and features a variety of ways to be involved with the members’ regular groups. The Tuesday morning ladies group is organized by Dot Knight (in front, second from Gabriel’s right). They play for two hours, rotating every half-hour. Gabriel sets up on one of the courts, providing drills and skills practice to help everyone enjoy their doubles games even more.
August 3, 2025
The Ontario Tennis Association in partnership with Bloomex and the Government of Ontario hosted the annual Bloomex Cup at the Ottawa Tennis Club in our nation’s capital. Over 200 players competed in singles and doubles, with the U14 and U18 events taking place from July 28-30 and the U12 and U16 events from July 31 to August 3.
Once known as the Ontario Junior Open, the Bloomex Cup has grown into one of the largest National Junior Open Series in Canada, bringing in competitors, coaches and supporters from across Canada to the Ottawa region.
As a 4-star event, only the highest-ranked players qualify for entry, so it was impressive to see 11 names from SouthWest Region in the draws. Callen Waese (Cedar Springs) was the most successful, reaching the finals of the U14 singles and the semi-finals of U16. Alexandra Choe (Joshua Creek) reached the U12 quarter-finals and played U14 as well. Peter Stevenson (Burlington) reached the U18 quarter-finals. Congratulations to all!
Six other players played U12 and U14 : Emma Allen (Joshua Creek), Etienne Ayotte (Youngs SportsPlex), Etooluwa Bammeke (Joshua Creek), Nathan Huynh (Burlington Racquet), Arihaan Rajawat (Milton) and Makayla Woodliffe (Milton). Emma Barton (Joshua Creek) played U16, and Ishaan Pratap (Joshua Creek) played U18.
August 3, 2025
Ever since the pandemic encouraged players to play singles tennis, there’s been a resurgence of interest in doing so. That interest is sustained at the Niagara-on-the-Lake TC with a weekly game called Sunday Singles. Open to all members of the club, it welcomes players of all ages and degrees of experience for three rotations of 30-minute play at 10:00 each Sunday morning from early May through late October.
Ordinarily, only 12 can be accommodated each week on the 6 available courts, but the midsummer holiday weekend brought a change-of-pace with 18 players combining for a mix of singles and doubles. While singles is still the reason for the Sunday game, the players adapted with the kindness and geniality that are the hallmark of the group.
July 28, 2025 and July 30, 2025
This week marked the retirement of two great Canadian stars from the world of professional tennis. Vasek Pospisil was honoured at the National Bank Open in Toronto on Monday evening, while Eugenie Bouchard was honoured in Montreal on Wednesday evening.
Both played a large part in the emergence of Canada as a leading tennis nation over the past 15 years. In each case, the highest points were at Wimbledon in 2014 : singles finalist for Genie, and doubles champion for Vasek; and also in team play for Canada : 2022 Davis Cup for Vasek, and 2023 Billie Jean King Cup for Genie.
We hope they know how much their records are admired and appreciated, and will continue to be. They inspired a generation of young Canadians.
Testimonial Links for Vasek
Testimonial Links for Genie
July 28, 2025
There’s nothing quite like the fun and the comfort of having a suite of seats for the NBO. Ancaster TC organized one and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere. Something for your club to think about for next year?
Getting close to the tennis stars is always a big attraction at the NBO. Doreen Mao (Joshua Creek Academy) found a fan in Holger Rune. And on Presidents Day, Madhu Dandamudi (left) and Steve Brannen (right) of the Grimsby TC found themselves at a table picked for a photo with Liam Draxl.
July 27, 2025
Leylah Annie Fernandez is the 2025 Washington champion! We don’t normally feature so much professional tennis news in the Diary, but this summer is bursting with triumphs.
The 22-year-old from Laval defeated Anna Kalinskaya 6-1, 6-2 in the Mubadala Citi D.C. Open final on Sunday (WTA500) for her biggest career title – her previous three triumphs have come at the WTA 250 level. This was the first title for Fernandez since October 2023 at the Hong Kong Open.
With a mix of baseline excellence and strong net play, Fernandez eliminated top-seeded Jessica Pegula — the U.S. Open runner-up last year — and No. 3 seed Elena Rybakina — the Wimbledon champion in 2022 — on the way to the final. The win against Rybakina in Saturday’s semifinals took three tiebreakers and more than three hours to decide.
We know Leylah as the US Open finalist in 2021 at age 19, and as the heart-and-soul of Team Canada’s Billie Jean King Cup victory in 2023. She’s now also the Canadian player with the most WTA level titles claimed since the introduction of the WTA Tour’s format in 1990.
Read the article by Francesco Tosini for Tennis Canada
And enjoy Leylah’s victory speech
July 26, 2025
Congratulations to Oakville’s Lily Rochon, champion of the U18 Fischer Outdoor Junior National Championships. The tournament was played at the Ontario Racquet Club, which is Lily’s home training base. She defeated Dylan Gelber of Quebec in the final match, coming back from a first set loss to win the title 4-6 6-4 6-2.
It’s Lily’s second U18 national title, having won the doubles at the 2025 Indoor Championships in April.
July 20, 2025
It was a mega day for Canada on the world tennis scene.
Denis Shapovalov earned his second title of the season at the ATP250 event in Los Cabos, Mexico. From the ATP website : The 26-year-old is up five spots to No. 28 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. Shapovalov was forced to shut down his 2023 season after Wimbledon, where he suffered a knee injury. Last year, he fell to as low as No. 140 in the PIF ATP Rankings but has worked his way back up in the past 10 months. Denis is only the sixth player to win multiple titles so far in 2025.
The power of perseverance! We couldn’t be happier for him and are looking forward to watching his matches at the NBO.
And then, in the historic port city of Bari in southern Italy, Team Canada won Hopman Cup XXXIII. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Bianca Andreescu teamed up to defeat pairs from Greece, Spain and Italy. For the first two rounds, they were both successful in their singles, but in the final with Italy Felix was beaten by Flavio Cobolli 6-7 7-5 10-8, thus setting up a mixed doubles finale.
The Hopman Cup was initiated in 1989 and for many years was played in Perth in advance of the Australian Open. After the interruptions of covid, it was moved to new venues and dates. Canada now has an amazing record in international team competition : Davis Cup, ATP Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, Hopman Cup. Maybe we should have more team events here in SouthWest Region?
Understanding Denis – Why Shapovalov’s Peaks and Valleys Define His Unusual Career
July 19, 2025
Wayne Saigeon was Chair of SouthWest Region from 1998 to 2017 and has a deep attachment to tennis here. That extends to the Grimsby TC, where he and Pat were seen enjoying the Under12 tournament on the weekend. Pat spotted a photo that hangs in the clubhouse, taken when Wayne was honoured with the OTA Distinguished Service Award in 2009.
This is a big summer for the dynamic couple : Pat will celebrate her 90th birthday on August 8th (same birth date as Roger Federer), then she and Wayne will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary later in the month.
Wayne was happy to check in with Joel Cruz, whose massive contributions to tennis include hosting four OTA tournaments this summer, coaching young players from 7:00-9:00am most mornings, and also being a key coach for Tennis Canada’s wheelchair players. He brings a unique perspective as a high performance player in his youth, as a parent, as a sensitive and perceptive coach, as a lifelong learner, and as a family man with “normal” resources from a full-time job. Collaboration and sharing are his watchwords; we all grow faster and better when we grow together.
OTA Distinguished Service Award
July 7, 2025
Today was the long-awaited ribbon-cutting of QUEENSTON COURTS, developed by the Niagara Parks Commission in Queenston Heights Park. This beautiful height of land is known for the Brock monument (seen just beyond the courts), and it also played a significant part in the early years of Frank Dancevic and Bruno Agostinelli Jr. Both became national champions and world-class tennis players.
There are four tennis courts, all available to the general public through a booking system on the NP website.
The park is a beautiful destination for a leisurely day of tennis along with a picnic and strolling through the gardens, the monuments, the Landscape of Nations Memorial, and the start of the Bruce Trail. The restaurant opens only on Sundays, when it features a brunch from 11:00 – 2:00.
Watch the ribbon cutting ceremony featured on The Source / YourTV.
July 1, 2025
HAPPY CANADA DAY! 🇨🇦
Thanks to Tady Saczkowski for capturing this photo at the Grimsby Tennis Club. It was a glorious evening and tennis was the perfect way to end our very special day.
June 25, 2025
The ICTA 55+ inter-club team competition runs for 14 weeks and includes 55 teams from 41 clubs across the GTA and beyond. From SouthWest Region, there are teams from Wallace Park TC and from Bronte TC in the A division. In the B division, there are teams from Wallace Park TC, Burlington TC and Milton/Nassagaweya TCs.
Teams are made up of 3 men and 3 women, each of whom will be at least 55 years of age some time this year. The league plays its matches on Thursday morning, with three courts : ladies doubles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles.
This group of players was relaxing following a home match for Wallace Park with the visiting team from Burlington TC. On the far right is Gordon Grant, who initiated the Wallace Park team during the summer he turned 55. He has enjoyed 20 happy seasons representing his club in the ICTA league, including a considerable number of years as team captain. Pretty impressive!
New teams are always welcome each season, so feel free to reach out to make inquiries or to visit one of the matches.
June 24, 2025
Brock University is a world leader in education related to Sport and physical activity. One of its resource units is called Centre for Healthy Youth Development through Sport, which today held a special event called ‘Physical Activity for All : An Afternoon with the Experts’. The drawing card was Dr Bruce Kidd, who spoke and then engaged in a stimulating Q&A.
Graduate students and other researchers were provided with display space to introduce their areas of study, and tennis was featured, thanks to Emma Shea. Emma is originally from North Bay, where she learned both tennis and volleyball. She attended Niagara University as a division 1 scholarship athlete in tennis, having the team experience for four years. She began her graduate studies at Brock University last year, and this project is part of her second-year work toward a Masters degree.
Called “Shattered Strings”, Emma’s research will explore negative emotional experiences encountered by female tennis players. Dr Kidd was happy to exchange research notes with Emma and offer his encouragement for her work.
June 21, 2025
Congratulations to the Burlington Tennis Club for the first Girls-Set-Match event of the season in SWR. The photo does a fine job of conveying the spirit of the day and the imagination of the girls. The event was orchestrated by club volunteer, Sue Jakeman, ably supported by Winn Brinks who has been on the club’s teaching pro team for two years.
Tennis Canada and OTA support these initiatives in order to bring about change in the tennis landscape. Find out about our early progress to learn how, with the support of National Bank, we’re paving the way for more women and girls to enjoy the benefits of the sport and grow in their tennis journey : Click here.
June 17, 2025
This Tuesday morning found a team of 8 players from Victoria Park TC making the drive from Cambridge to beautiful Port Dover on the shores of Lake Erie. Their purpose was a match with the Port Dover TC 55+ team, followed by a fresh fish lunch beside the lake. Pretty darn perfect!
We wrote about this league, masterminded by Pat Moran, in a story last season. They’re down to four clubs this summer, but continue to make the most of it. The tennis is strong, and the camaraderie even stronger.
At Port Dover, the match was on four beautiful courts that are truly a hidden gem. You’d be hard- pressed to find such nice courts in a town with a population under 8,000. There’s a story to be told and we hope to do a feature about it.
The match unfolded according to the league’s format : men’s doubles and ladies’ doubles for the first 40 minutes; crossover men’s and ladies’ doubles for the next 40 minutes; mixed doubles for the final 40 minutes. Two points are awarded to the pair with the most games at the end of the allotted time; a point each in the event of a tie.
Team Port Dover on the right, with captain Pat Moran standing far right.
June 15, 2025
Congratulations to Gabriel Diallo on his first ATP Tour championship. He needed five solid wins to claim the ATP250 Libema Open on the grass courts of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, and has now risen to a career high ranking of 44. Gabriel defeated Aleksander Vukic, Jordan Thompson, Karen Khachanov (#3 seed), Ugo Humbert (#2 seed) and Zizou Bergs. All the matches were close, with the final being 7-5, 7-6 (10-8).
We can hardly wait to see him at this summer’s National Bank Open!
Diallo: ‘Surreal to have the trophy’
June 10, 2025
We wrote a couple of weeks ago about the completion of the new courts for the St Catharines Tennis Club. The official ribbon-cutting took place today, with club president Chris Richard joining Mayor Mat Siscoe (in the OTA hat) for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony. A large crowd of well-wishers joined in, despite the very blustery weather conditions. Among them were members of City Council, City staff and the Recreation Master Plan Advisory Committee. Congratulations, St Catharines!
The ceremony included installation of a sign in memory of Jennifer Allen, who lost her life tragically a year ago. Jen was the spark that began this revitalization project in 2021. Her initiative led to the formation of the St Catharines Tennis Alliance, which spearheaded the initial drive to bring tennis back to her city. Four of the founding members took a moment to reflect on the experience.
Kendra Osa (2nd year Engineering at McMaster), Chris Richard (founding club president), Jayden Jeong (4th year Life Sciences at Queen’s). Jen would have been very very proud.
June 9, 2025
The never-ending quest for SouthWest Region connections led your reporter to the Kingston Tennis Club, where Conor Casey is the head pro. Conor grew up in Oakville and spent the 90s playing throughout Halton Region and beyond. NCAA Division 1 scholarships took him to the University of Mississippi and Ohio State before circling back to the McMaster Marauders in 2004. He went to film school, wrote for TV in LosAngeles and generally built a fascinating resumé, but what led me to him was SubStack.
For anyone unfamiliar with it, SubStack is an online platform that provides the infrastructure for subscription-based content, primarily newsletters. It includes marvellous tennis writers such as Christopher Clarey, Ben Rothenberg and Andrea Petkovic, along with others who are less well-known but always worth a look.
Among them is Tennis Coach Conor Casey. He writes about thoughtful ideas with a humorous twist that’s distinctive. He stands out. Sometimes he includes typical club coach experiences, such as having a member of the women’s C-team who is always out of sync with the flow of the drills. His patience wearing thin, he cries out her name in exasperation : her name is Rosemary. I could relate to that! The newsletter offered a hat to annual subscribers … a hat with a kind logo : Heartfelt. I opted in and decided to collect my hat in person.
Since then, I’ve had occasion to mention Coach Conor Casey to a number of players under the age of 30. This has been a revelation. I’m not into social media myself, but apparently 100,000 followers on Instagram is a good thing. That’s Coach Conor Casey territory.
Jonathan Stokke has a podcast called Baseline Intelligence. He had a lengthy conversation with Conor on April 28 2025.
Daniel Kiernan has a podcast called Control the Controllables (and also has a tennis academy in Spain). He did an episode with Conor on March 5 2025.
Stephen Boughton from The Slice podcast spoke with Conor during the May 21 2025 episode.
The Mission Elite podcast featured Conor on November 12 2024.
June 8, 2025; 2:57pm EST
“Where were you when ….?”
Do we always recall exactly where we were when pivotal things happen? In the world of tennis, one of those moments was a running forehand down the line, making the final score 4-6 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(3) 7-6(10-2). It had taken 5 hours and 29 minutes for Carlos Alcaraz and Jannick Sinner to play 385 points in 59 games of unforgettable tennis. Sinner had won 193 points, while Alcaraz needed only 192 points to become the champion.
It was my pleasure to be in the tiny clubhouse of the venerable St James Tennis Club in Ottawa. The club was founded on its current site in 1922, a year when Henri Cochet – one of the Four Musketeers of French tennis – was the men’s singles champion.
May 31, 2025
If we wish to glimpse the underlying culture and style of a community club, the social events are a good place to start. They provide the platform on which we build a sense of community, the place we make new acquaintances and reconnect with old friends.
Creating a club social event is a big job, requiring skillful and dedicated volunteers to lead and manage. Such leaders can be hard to find, especially if it comes to be seen as a “thankless job”. The best antidote is the support of additional club members. This can take many forms, but the essential element is to look for ways to amplify and appreciate the event. It can be as easy as attending and participating, but there are other possibilities.
Aldershot TC prides itself on a strong community culture, with social events that are always well supported. Anne Luxon is the central figure in a large team effort, and a creative additional support comes from Carol Victor. Carol makes a point of capturing the event with her camera, then compiles the prints into a commemorative bulletin board display. It’s wonderful to have such a record after all the work is done!
Next up is Aldershot’s Wimbledon social on July 12th. Wear your whites!
May 30, 2025
It’s difficult to put into perspective what Vicky Mboko accomplished in Paris. By virtue of her stellar performances in the first four months of the year, she earned a spot in the Qualifying draw for Roland Garros – the second of our four Grand Slam tournaments. There are 128 players in “the qualies”, all vying for one of the 16 spots that would gain entry to the main draw. But it takes three match wins to reach that point, which she proceeded to do without dropping a set.
Vicky then took her place among the 128 players in the main draw. In the first round, she beat Lulu Sun (ranked #44) 6-1,7-6. In the second round, she beat Eva Lys (ranked #62) 6-4,6-4. Which brought her to the third round with Quinwen Zheng, the #8 seed and the gold medalist of the 2024 Paris Olympics. At this stage, there are 32 players remaining in the competition – of the 240 players at the start. It was Vicky’s 6th match in 10 days. She played superbly and was competitive throughout, despite being on the short end of the 6-3,6-4 result.
The tennis world has taken notice, not only of her game but also of her grace and style. Pete Borkowski created a lovely piece about Vicky for the Tennis Canada website. It includes a link to a feature video by CBC News reporter, Dale Manucdoc, who connected with Pierre Lamarche at the Burlington TC to talk about Vicky’s early years there. And there’s a link to The Tennis Channel’s interview with Vicky.
Among others, an excellent article has been written by Matthew Futterman of the NY Times. Congratulations, Vicky! The cheers and well-wishes are ringing out across SouthWest Region.
May 29, 2025
Elation at Merritton Park today, as the new courts of the rise-again St Catharines Tennis Club received the final touches on their surfacing.
Club president Chris Richard has been working with the city for several years, building relationships that have led to this new beginning. John Pilling has lent valuable support, bringing his decades of experience to the project, and is seen here in the early evening as the nets went up.
The original St Catharines Tennis Club dates back to 1922 and was operated as an independent entity. It served not only the city, but also the region, the province, and the nation, with a who’s-who list of players competing in tournaments here during the 70s-80s-90s. Local families loved the hartru courts and friendly clubhouse. Kids rode their bikes to the club and spent the day on the courts and in the pool.
Its gradual decline, and ultimate demise, left a huge gap in the sports infrastructure of St Catharines, with no understanding or appreciation of tennis hardwired into the city bureaucracy. Existing tennis players joined clubs in neighbouring towns and became accustomed to the commute, while potential players were left with no practical way to enter the sport.
The pandemic gave rise to a determination to turn things around, with a St Catharines Tennis Alliance getting the ball rolling. Kudos to Chris and John and their vigorous board of directors for getting the job done!
May 25, 2025
MERCI RAFA!
Roland Garros paid tribute to its greatest champion today, with a beautiful ceremony on Court Philippe-Chatrier. It’s been 20 years since we were captivated by the teenage phenom in a sleeveless shirt, pirate pants and a bandanna. 2005 was Rafael Nadal’s first time in the French Open, and he roared through seven matches in two weeks to win it. Then he did it again and again and again : 14 times in all. Vamos!
What an incredible era in our sport : Rafa together with Roger Federer, Andy Murray, and Novak Djokovic pushing each other and bringing us along for the ride. Tennis may be “just a game”, but it turned four boys from Spain, Switzerland, Scotland and Serbia into extraordinary men.
Enjoy the 45-minute ceremony with this YouTube link :
Christopher Clarey is a truly outstanding writer, and his new book – The Warrior, Rafael Nadal and his Kingdom of Clay – is a wonderful read. Highly recommended.
May 24, 2025
Hilltop Tennis Club is in Bullock’s Corners Park, in a lovely part of Hamilton known as Greensville. You might find yourself here if you’re checking out hiking trails and waterfalls. It’s also just a few kilometres from the Dundas Tennis Club, less than a 10-minute drive according to the GPS.
Hilltop is a brand-new facility : three courts recently rebuilt by the City, but with very little by way of support amenities. Hilltop volunteers Ron Lonz and Helen Welsh are adding finishing touches one step at a time, raising the profile of tennis in the park and building an actively involved membership base.
Through a collaboration with Dundas TC, teaching professional Peter Patiakis is providing a clinic package for all new adult club members at the starter-and-refresher levels, and an instruction package for all junior players. The club has purchased a ball machine for the use of members, and maintains a well-stocked storage area in a corner of the park’s central service building.
But the biggest impact comes from this newly-decorated hitting wall. It was painted by Kasia Nitoń, Artist + Owner of Sunny Street Creative Studio. Checking it out are Debra Sylvester, Helen Welsh, Peter Patiakis, Ron Lonz & Fred Welsh. You can’t miss it!
May 10, 2025
Congratulations to Jim Barbato on taking the reins as club president at Tyandaga Tennis Club in Burlington. He was happy to welcome Ben Lewis and the OTA SmashCage for an opening day at the club.
Huge thanks to Robin Smith for years of outstanding leadership. Tyandaga has a do-it-yourself culture which benefits both the city and the club members. The four courts have been fully reconditioned and resurfaced from the club coffers, while the clubhouse and the courtside deck area have all been improved by volunteer carpenters.
SWR Treasurer, Steve Knight, was on hand to thank both Jim (centre) and Robin (right).
May 2, 2025
The annual three-day PHE National Conference was held this year in Niagara Falls, with a theme of Mighty Current. It brings together physical and health education teachers, physical activity leaders and sector experts to share emerging trends, best practices and sector updates in support of collective efforts to provide children and youth with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be healthy and active for life.
It was a big crowd, but tennis was able to make its presence felt through a presentation by Tennis Canada’s Ryan Jones. The FIRST SET program is designed to support tennis providers, such as teachers, with guidelines and progressions to help kids learn fundamental tennis skills in a fun, welcoming, safe, and positive environment.
Ryan was ably assisted by Jennifer Weerasinghe (coach and club manager at North York TC; PhD candidate at York University). Also on hand were Kathy Carter (leading coach and player in Niagara Falls for 30 years), and Nick Lacoste (graduate student and researcher at Brock University).
April 30, 2025
Tennis connections take many forms, and regular readers may recall we have one in Vietnam. Our web designer, Cu Van Ha, was raised in Niagara Falls and spent many years in Ottawa, but was born in Vietnam and became a new Canadian in the aftermath of the war. He happens to be spending some time in Vietnam at present and so was there for the grand ceremony that marked the 50th anniversary of reunification today.
Cu and I meet weekly to discuss the website, but today’s conversation was mostly about the ceremony and the atmosphere it created. Recovering from a devastating war is more traumatic than most of us can imagine, and this resilient people put their heads down and went about the challenges of rebuilding. The anniversary celebration allowed them to take a brief pause and reflect on what they’ve accomplished together. It’s exceptional.
Here’s a link to a CTV News item about it. And another on NPR.
And here’s a lovely interview with CBC’s Piya Chattopadhyay. She speaks with Vinh Nguyen about his book The Migrant Rain Falls in Reverse, and how this moment in history resonates with diasporic experiences today. Many new Canadians are drawn to tennis as part of their new lives here, so it’s important and helpful for us to consider diverse perspectives.
April 19, 2025
For the second time this year, an Instructors Certification program has been presented by OTA in SouthWest Region. For the middle two weekends of April (with online work during the in-between days as well), 13 players devoted themselves to learning the fundamentals of tennis coaching under the direction of facilitator Scott Hurtubise. Along with lots of technical details and management of groups, they learned the importance of professional standards and ethics.
Some of the new coaches are young players, looking forward to summer employment at community clubs. Others are lifelong players motivated by a desire to “give back” by sharing their love of the game with entry-level players and by helping out at their clubs in whatever way they can. They’re all vitally important to the health and continued growth of tennis, and we’re deeply appreciative of their commitment. Thanks also to Scott, to Andrew Chappell at the OTA office, and to the Niagara Academy of Tennis which provided the courts.
April 10, 2025
What’s Spec Tennis? It’s FAST, FUN and SOCIAL!
This week marked the conclusion of the winter season for Spec Tennis in Niagara. This modified version of tennis is our answer to pickleball, as it’s easy to learn and gives us a break with a slower-speed ball and a smaller court. The scoring and general format are essentially like tennis. It can be played on a pickleball/badminton court, or in the service boxes on a standard-size tennis court.
The game was invented by Nate Gross – a tennis director in the US. The website has testimonials from other experienced coaches and tennis directors who find it an invaluable addition to their program offerings and teaching aids. In the future, we hope to see Spec Tennis played as an optional format in all tennis clubs, since it requires no adjustments to regular tennis courts and can be enjoyed by club members of all levels. It’s particularly helpful for entry-level players, or those for whom injuries make the full-size court and full-speed balls impractical, and for groups of mixed tennis levels in which a small-court game is more enjoyable.
Spec Tennis Niagara plays all winter on Tuesday afternoons at the Niagara Academy Of Tennis in Vineland, and at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Community Centre on Thursday evenings. Games will continue on outdoor courts throughout the summer months.
CLICK HERE to check out the website. Or HERE for the YouTube site.
April 12, 2025
The Annual General Meeting for OTA was held today at Sobeys Centre in Toronto. Delegates from all of OTA’s 10 regions gathered in the space used as the Players Lounge during the NBO. The program started with continental breakfast, and ended with lunch in the courtside dining room and tennis in the bubbled courts that are used for practice during the NBO.
Dianne Weatherby presented her final annual report, having chaired the OTA board for four years (term limit). She introduced the new chair, Arthur Wolf, who also brings a lifetime of tennis experience to the role. Arthur introduced the starting point for a new Strategic Plan and invited member clubs to reach out with input regarding what is most important from their point of view. Participation is welcomed over the next couple of months.
The NBO team from Tennis Canada presented an overview of this year’s tournament, with a variety of incentives for clubs to purchase a suite and to promote ticket purchasing among club members. Clubs were also able to make personal connections with the reps from OTA sponsors.
The AGM is a significant date on the tennis calendar each year, Clubs are encouraged to attend as it helps to broaden our perspective as well as provide for new connections. There were 18 of us from SouthWest Region on Saturday (plus two board members who reside in Burlington : KK Magi and Jamie Gordon). It was a large and busy room, so we were happy to gather 15 of 18 for a quick photo.
From the left : Milla Matsko (Hamilton/Niagara Smash), David Orde (Rosedale), Madhu Dandamudi (Grimsby), Dave Scott (Rosedale) , Ron Mauro (Grimsby), Kyle Xu (Milton), Ghalib Riaz (Milton), Kevin Cuddy (North Burlington), Helga Cuddy (North Burlington), Christina Wilson (Burlington), Felipe Villegas (Burlington), Oliver Barkovic (Aldershot), Els Swart (Welland), Chris Richard (St Catharines), Rosemary Goodwin (Chair).
Missing : Nancy Lennard (Ancaster), Greg Kirsten (Halton TA), Tony Leo (Halton TA).
April 11, 2025
The long-awaited St Catharines Tennis Club courts at Merritton Park began to spring into life today with a work party that carried on despite a temperature of 4 degrees.
The courts have been lined for play on the bare asphalt in order to take advantage of any better weather between now and when it’s warm enough to apply the tennis-court colour-coatings in late May.
Nets are up and the work crew was fully occupied with erecting windscreens, assembling picnic tables, mounting signs and the notice board, and prepping other amenities.
On the job today : Anne Kravchenko, Arif Ali, Brian Cruise, Chris Richard, Hal Evans, Hank Andrulis, Keith Porter, Larry Greenspan, Oscar Turchi and Paul Bedard. Tamara Shephard stopped by from the city’s corporate communications department to take this photo and learn more about the club’s plans for the outdoor season.
A full slate of activities is scheduled, with everything expected to be in full swing by the last week of April. Check out the website at https://www.stcatharinestennisclub.com/
April 4, 2025
Congratulations to Lily Rochon of Oakville, winner of both the U16 and U18 girls doubles in the 2025 Fischer National Indoor Championships. The U16 was played in Verdun, Quebec with the final being on March 27. A week later, Lily won the U18 doubles at Sobeys stadium in Toronto. Her partners were Laurence Demers in the U16 (from Quebec) and Charlize Celebrini in the U18 (from BC).
Lily also reached the singles finals of the U16, where Isabelle Yan emerged as the champion.
Lily lives in Oakville, and trains at the Ontario Racquet Club in nearby Mississauga. She had two other national doubles titles to her name prior to this. It’s becoming something of a tradition for girls resident in SWR to excel in doubles, with Andrea Cabio, Anna Tabunshchyk, Bianca Ceroni, Payton Dith and Alessia Lungu all winning national doubles titles in recent years.
On the left : Lily Rochon, U16 singles finalist, alongside Isabelle Yan, champion. Bella made a big splash in SWR when she starred for Team Saskatchewan in the 2022 Canada Summer Games (hosted in Niagara). At age 10, she was one of the youngest athletes in the games, and one of the most photographed, as her exuberant play captured many fans.
March 27, 2025
Charleston, South Carolina : It was a trip to see the WTA500 tournament while also enjoying the spring that hasn’t yet arrived in SWR. We were in a VRBO on a residential street and were astonished to come upon this exquisite spot a block away. The Tiny Tennis Museum is the creation of Jim McCready, one of North America’s foremost tennis collectors. It’s a true labor of love, and had opened just a few days before our visit. The building is no more than 15’ wide and 25’ deep, but it’s packed with beautiful displays that cover 150 years of tennis history.
You can read about Jim’s collection on his website : The Driftway Collection.
Tennis Collectors of America also has a small website.
March 16, 2025
Porto, Portugal; March 9th : the final match of the W75 ITF tournament : Victoria Mboko (Canada) defeats Harriet Dart (Great Britain) 6-1 6-1. An emphatic result over a seasoned player ranked #116 in the world. Wow!
It’s Vicky’s fifth singles title of the year, with 25 main draw wins – the most by any player on the ITF World Tennis Tour. Wow!
This definitely creates ripple effects. On March 13th, it was announced that Vicky will make her first appearance for Team Canada at the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers in Tokyo on April 11-13. Wow! The team will try to beat Romania and Japan to advance to the finals in November.
And Vicky has been awarded a wild card to make her first appearance in a WTA1000 event at the Miami Open. Her first-round match will be on the 18th or 19th, against Columbian player Camila Osorio. They’re in the fourth quarter of the draw, anchored by Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys. Wow!
To top things off, Vicky is the subject of this terrific article in Tennis Sweet Spot, the newsletter of Carole Bouchard, an excellent writer from France. Wow!
March 11, 2025
Congratulations to Landon Cruz of Grimsby, presented with the Fair Play Award for the 2025 Yonex Under 12 Ontario Indoor Championships.
Landon excelled in U9 and U10 competition in 2024. This year, he has dedicated himself to the U12 division despite being still eligible for U10, and earned enough points in the first two months of the season to win a spot in the qualifying draw for the provincials. He was among 32 boys, each looking for one of 8 places available in the main draw. Landon won his first match 6-3,7-5, then won the second round 6-1, 2-6, 13-11. That cliffhanger propelled him into the main draw, to be one of the 32 top U12 boys in Ontario.
His first round was very close, losing to Egor Dobrovolsky 7-6(3), 6-2. The consolation round was even closer, losing to Danniel Zheng 6-4, 5-7, 10-7. Throughout those four matches, Landon’s comportment and sportsmanship caught the eye of the event organizers, resulting in his selection for the prestigious award.
Landon can be seen on the courts of the Grimsby TC as well as most anywhere tennis will be played in SWR this summer. Be sure to say hello and let him know his example is appreciated.
March 9, 2025
The Niagara Region Tennis Network manages year-round competition for keen players, anchored by Sunday afternoon team tennis at Youngs Sportsplex from September through May. Munzil and Tan Qureshi started team tennis in 2017, in tribute to the Canada Games coming to Niagara, and have completed about 24 series since then.
The 2025 Winter series concluded this weekend, with the Purple Panthers winning the championship after 8 weeks of play. About 100 players compete in each series, with 64 regulars assigned to the 8 teams and others filling in as needed. The genius of Munzil keeps the courts filled and the scorelines close … again and again and again. Huge congratulations to all!
The Spring series starts in two weeks. It’s an abbreviated round with six teams.
From the left : Tan Qureshi, Peter Kucharuk, Adam Repovs, Shannon Hudson, Eliot MacDonald
(filling in for Zaid Hassani), Carol Nagy, Hank Andrulis, Darcy Schmidt, Gerry McIlhone.
February 19, 2025
The 3rd annual OTA/TPA Tennis Symposium was held today at Sobeys Stadium at York University in Toronto. The event featured on-court presentations of interest to coaches, trainers and other tennis leaders.
Andy Sutton demonstrated strategies for engaging adult players and effectively managing large groups on court. His secrets : (1) Every player is deserving of respect at their present point of experience. (2) Adults are big kids at heart!
Katy Shulaeva spoke of the critical role of creating pressure situations in training, and demonstrated with U12 players how this can be done with care and tact. If we expose kids to the emotions of pressure and adversity every day, they can learn to be comfortable with feeling uncomfortable.
Andre Labelle gave two very special presentations : one on developing doubles skills and tactical priorities for U12 players … the other on key learnings from a 2024 Italian Tennis Federation U14 Match Play Tour. With Italy leading the world in player development in recent years, there’s much to learn. Two key elements for young players : competition in a team environment, and doubles play.
There was also a discussion regarding injuries in young players, especially in spotting potential areas of weakness or misalignment before they develop into serious problems. This was of particular interest to Jenny Brown, part of the SWR contingent on the day. Her practiced eye was able to discern issues in the movement patterns of the young players.
In order to minimize injuries, ACE Tennis partners with Honsberger Physio for its programs.
February 15, 2025
Ten eager future-coaches are undertaking the TPA Instructor Certification program this weekend and next at the Niagara Falls Racquet Centre. About half are from SWR, with Niagara, Hamilton and Halton all represented. Others have traveled from Newmarket and London despite the heaviest snow event of the season.
Course conductor Scott Hurtubise is also the tennis director at NFRC. With over 2500 coaches trained throughout his illustrious career, he’s often on the road for these programs and thus happy to be hosting on his home courts.
Congratulations to the new trainees : we’ll be needing each of you this summer!
February 14, 2025
Happy Valentines Day from Court 1.
This foursome has been playing together each Monday and Friday morning from 9:00-10:30, from mid-October through to May, ever since Youngs SportsPlex opened in Welland in 2012. As correspondent Gene Kiernicki says : “Yikes, that’s a long time!”
During the outdoor season, play moves outdoors to the Welland TC and various other groupings. Their friendship extends to socializing along with their families for holidays, birthdays, theatre, pool parties and special events.
It’s often said that tennis extends the life expectancy of players, and group friendships are a huge contributing factor. We’d love to hear other such stories from around the region. What’s yours?
Our motto: “Fun, Friendship and Fitness”
February 9, 2025
It isn’t very often that a Canadian player wins a 500-level tournament, so today’s Dallas Open is definitely worthy of note. Denis Shapovalov defeated Casper Ruud to earn the biggest title of his career. His tough draw required wins over Miomir Kecmanovic, Taylor Fritz (#1 seed), Tomas Machac (#6 seed) and Tommy Paul (#3 seed) before meeting the #2 seed in the final.
Christopher Clarey is a highly-respected tennis writer and observer. He wrote this very complimentary appreciation on his substack newsletter :
A Shapo Revival? Bring on the dazzle.
Congratulations, Denis!
February 3, 2025
It’s the morning-after-the-night-before, the weekend having been spent watching the Davis Cup tie in Montreal. Pete Borkowski does a great job of writing for the Tennis Canada website and you’ll find the story here. From the local point of view, Captain Frank Dancevic did Niagara so very very proud as always, and Dr Taran Ohson (Kinetic Cleanse in Hamilton/Burlington) played an important role in keeping the team healthy and fit.
Canadian tennis fans came from far and wide, including Paul, Peter and Jane Bedard from Niagara. They’ve known Liam Draxl all his life, so were delighted to see him play alongside Vasek Pospisil in what turned out to be Vasek’s 35th and final Davis Cup.
Remember the name Liam Draxl. And if ever you have an opportunity to see him play, best advice is run-don’t-walk to that court as fast as you can. He embodies the Joy of Tennis and is huge fun to watch.
Photos by Pascal Ratthe
February 2, 2025
Victoria Mboko will forever be connected to Burlington tennis for all those who watched her play throughout the city since 2010. Relocation to Montreal for the National Training Centre came around the time of the global pandemic, and injuries brought other speed bumps.
But today, Vicky Mboko is back on track and flying high. At age 18, her WTA ranking today is 215 and she’s just won her third professional tournament of 2025. Congratulations!!
Fans find her on the socials, and there’s also much to read about her on the www. Here are a few links :
ITF Player Profile
Tennis Canada Player Profile
OTA : All in the Family
OTA : Growing Up Down Under
TC : Where I’m Raised
January 24, 2025
David Orde, Manager of the Rosedale Tennis Club, was happy to host Andrew Chappell, our OTA Manager, Membership & Regional Development, at the club today. Andrew made the drive to Hamilton to bring congratulations for the club’s remarkable achievement in rebuilding its four hard courts and adding the dome covering.
Increasing our indoor court capacity is top priority for both Tennis Canada and OTA. During 2024, five new facilities became available in Ontario, with a total of 25 indoor courts. Two are in Peel Region (PRC Mississauga and PRC Brampton) another in Vaughan (SmartVMC Racquetsports by ACE) and one in Newmarket (Keith Davis Tennis Centre). But Rosedale’s project is the only one undertaken by a community club.
This was made possible by years of planning, alongside relationship-building with the City of Hamilton. Rosedale’s track record, combined with the City’s positive experience with its support for the Ancaster TC, led to an interest-free loan to close the gap on the capital investment needed. The loan will be repaid in a few short years, making funds available for other such projects.
This brings Rosedale’s indoor capacity to 8 courts, with a total of 12 courts available during the outdoor season. The club celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023, and we can’t imagine a more outstanding way to begin a new century. Congratulations!
January 23, 2025
It’s winter in Ontario, snowy and sub-zero outside. Our tennis fix comes by way of the Australian Open, with the late evening matches in Melbourne showing up on TV during early-morning breakfast in our time zone. Crank up the coffee and the fireplace. Enjoy the lively and colourful tennis world down-under.
This superb semi-final finished in full daylight here (after midnight in Melbourne), with Madison Keys coming out ahead of Iga Swiatek by a score of 10-8 in the third-set tiebreak. Awesome tennis!
