Rookie Tour hits Winnipeg Winter Club

The Winnipeg Winter Club saw 18 up-and-coming players between the ages of 5 and 13 years of age hit the tennis courts at the recent Rogers Rookie Tour. Some serious fun was had by all who attended, which is a key emphasis of Rogers Rookie Tour events.

Tournament organizer, Robert Kennedy, liked the competitive spirit and sportsmanship demonstrated by the kids. All participants came out winners, as each player walked away with a nice prize pack which included a T-shirt, sack pack, water bottle, cap, tennis ball and a Rogers Rookie Tour certificate.

The Rogers Rookie Tour matches are played with slower red, orange or green balls on smaller courts, using modified scoring. It is a fun way to start tennis and makes it easy for children to play the game, develop good technique and tactics and a love for the sport. 

The next Rogers Rookie Tour event is scheduled for November 30th at the Winnipeg Winter Club. Sign-up and schedule details can be found at www.tennismanitoba.com.

Under 10 Provincial Team Training Program

Tennis Manitoba will offer a new introductory tennis program starting this October for young athletes born during 2005 and earlier. The introductory sessions are aimed to develop a solid foundation of tennis skills, and will use a variety of games, drills and activities to develop coordination, balance, agility and speed. Kids will also learn tennis scoring, as well as beginning tactics and strategies for playing matches.

The full program will run 30 weeks from October to June, and is broken into 3 sessions of about 10 weeks each. Successful participants will be selected at an evaluation camp scheduled for 3 - 5 p.m., Saturday, October 4 at the Norwood Community Center.

For additional program details, click here.

Parents interested in having their child participate in the program are to contact Jared Connell before 4 p.m. Wednesday, October 1, 2014, at jared@tennismanitoba.com.

Tennis in Canada continues remarkable growth in participation and popularity, recent study shows

More than 6.5 million Canadians played tennis this past year; 32% increase from 2012

Toronto, September 8, 2014 – Tennis Canada announced Monday the results from a 2014 national research study on the health of the sport of tennis in Canada. The study shows that in the past 12 months, more than 6.5 million Canadians played tennis at least once. This is a 32% increase over 2012 when the last participation numbers were tracked. Popularity of the sport is also on the rise with 51% of Canadians saying they are either somewhat or very interested in the sport, up from 38% in 2012.

“We expected significant growth having not conducted this research for two years, so we are extremely pleased with these results which show that tennis continues to be on the rise in Canada at the grassroots level,” said Kelly D. Murumets, President and CEO, Tennis Canada. “There are several factors that can be attributed to this incredible development including the tremendous success of our athletes on the international stage, our two world-class tournaments, strong partnerships with provincial associations, private coaches and clubs, and dedicated volunteers and community leaders running programming across the country. The data shows that Canadians view tennis as a safe, family-friendly, affordable and accessible sport with many physical, social and emotional health benefits.”

Of the 6.5 million participants, 5.3 million play at least four times per year while nearly 1.7 million are considered frequent players who hit the courts at least twice per month during the summer. This is also a 32% increase in frequent players when compared to the 2012 report.

Also showing double digit growth is participation and interest amongst youth. More than 600,000 children between the ages of 6-11 picked up a racquet in the last year. More than half of those children played at least four times in that 12-month span; this is an increase of more than 80% for that age group. The study also shows that the majority of the new fan interest in the sport overall is coming from a younger demographic.

Participation based on region is fairly proportional to population, with British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec leading the way. Overall interest growth remains steady across the country, with the most significant rise coming out of the Maritime Provinces where fan engagement with the sport has tripled over the past two years. With three new facilities having opened on the East Coast in Fredericton, Truro and Dartmouth over the past 18 months, in addition to Halifax playing host to the upcoming Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Play-Off tie, Atlantic Canada is emerging as an important market for tennis in the country.

The study was conducted among 3800 Canadians from across the country by Charlton Strategic Research Inc. and this assessment of both participation and fan interest will continue on an annual basis moving forward.

Johanson and Petrick win Winnipeg Doubles Crown

(Tennis Canada) Canadian teenagers Rosie Johanson and Charlotte Petrick continued their incredible run at the $25K CIBC Wood Gundy Women’s Challenger in Winnipeg on Sunday, defeating top-seeded Brazilian-American duo Maria-Fernanda Alves and Anamika Bhargava 6-3, 6-3 in the doubles final to capture their first career professional-level titles.

After winning their three previous contests in match tiebreakers, 15-year-old Johanson and 17-year-old Petrick were the stronger pair in the final, clinching three service breaks while saving all three break points they faced. In addition to taking out the No. 1 pair in the championship match, Johanson and Petrick also ousted the No. 2 and No. 4-seeded teams en route. It was an impressive week for the unseeded duo, with Johanson not currently holding a pro-level ranking and Petrick possessing a No. 1282 ranking in doubles.

Johanson and Petrick will next be participating in the Canadian Open Junior Championships, taking place in Repentigny, Que. this upcoming week. The most important international junior event to take place in Canada each year, it is an ITF Grade 1 tournament – one level below the junior Slams.

In singles, top-seeded Austrian Patricia Mayr-Achleitner faced little trouble eliminating No. 2 seed Mayo Hibi of Japan 6-2, 6-2 in the championship match. Dishing Hibi her first two lost sets of the week, Mayr-Achleitner won her 17th career ITF Pro Circuit crown. The world No. 85 will now be heading from Winnipeg to New York for the US Open, where she will face No. 29 seed Casey Dellacqua in the Slam’s first round.

On the men’s side of the Winnipeg tournament, the $15K Manshield Men’s Futures saw 20-year-old Liam Broady of Great Britain walk away with the title. The No. 4 seed beat unseeded Aussie Blake Mott 6-3, 6-4 for his third career professional singles trophy. A former junior world No. 2, Broady didn’t lose a set all week.

Canadian Philip Bester and partner Marcus Daniell of New Zealand fell just short of the men’s doubles crown, dropping a 7-5, 7-5 decision to Bulgarian-Indian pair Dimitar Kutrovsky and Saketh Myneni.

Busy Day in Winnipeg Sees Philip Bester Make Semifinals

(Tennis Canada) After rain washed out nearly a full day of play at the $25K CIBC Wood Gundy Women’s Challenger and $15K Manshield Men’s Futures in Winnipeg, it was a busy Friday at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club as two rounds of action were completed to catch up.

With his two victories on the day, Philip Bester is the lone Canadian still standing in singles at the men’s and women’s joint event. First, he came back from a set down to oust Australian Greg Jones 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round before upsetting No. 3 seed Dimitar Kutrovsky of Bulgaria 7-6(3), 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

In the semifinals, 25-year-old Bester will challenge another Aussie, Blake Mott, in what will be their first meeting. Since starting his comeback from hip surgery in June, Bester has now made two semifinals in seven events and will be aiming to advance into his first final.

The second men’s semifinal will pit two 20-year-old seeded players opposite each other. Top-seeded Australian Jordan Thompson, currently ranked world No. 279, will face No. 4 seed Liam Broady of Great Britain, the world’s No. 346-ranked competitor. Neither athlete has dropped a set through three matches in Winnipeg so far.

On the women’s side, Canadians Charlotte Robillard-Millette and Carol Zhao both picked up one victory on Friday to make the quarter-finals before falling in their next matches.

Robillard-Millette, who just last week won her second U18 national title of the year, captured the biggest pro-level win of her young career in the second round by defeating No. 4 seed Tori Kinard of the United States 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. With the win, the 15-year-old advanced into her first professional quarter-final.

A few hours later though, she fell to American Nadja Gilchrist 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a hard-fought duel.

The $25K tournament’s No. 3 seed, Zhao easily handled American Parris Todd 6-0, 7-5 in the second round but was eliminated in the quarters by Great Britain’s Isabelle Wallace 6-3, 7-5.

The semifinals will see Gilchrist take on No. 1 seed Patricia Mayr-Achleitner of Austria and Wallace challenge No. 2 seed Mayo Hibi of Japan.

Action starts at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time/11 a.m. ET. Admission is free for all fans.

Bryans learned to win at '99 Games

By: Geoff Kirbyson, Winnipeg Free Press

THE greatest men's doubles team in tennis history learned how to win on the world stage in Winnipeg.

Wayne Bryan, father and coach of Mike and Bob Bryan, said their gold-medal performance at the Pan Am Games in 1999 was a key "ingredient" in their careers, which has seen them win 15 Grand Slam events, 99 career titles and an Olympic gold medal.

"The Pan Am Games gave them a feel of what was to come in the Olympics and the Davis Cup. That was the first time they got to wear the colours of the USA as pros. They've always loved playing for their country," the family patriarch said.

Bryan was flown in by the organizers of the Manshield Tennis Futures and CIBC Wood Gundy Challenger tournaments to put on some doubles clinics for local players and speak at a couple of sponsors' events.

Impressed

He was impressed with the organizers of the fifth-biggest professional tournament in Canada.

"There are a lot of extras out there, the flags, the flowers, the food and quite a few social activities. Most of the tournaments don't do all of that," he said.

Even when he's not with his sons, he's in contact with them every day either on the phone or via email or text. He'll pass on the odd tip when he watches them on television but he makes sure not to go overboard on the advice.

"It's little tiny reminders, not too much. The best coaches don't blabber too much but when they talk it's gold bullion. The players tune you out if you talk too much," he said.

Bryan said the best thing that aspiring tennis players can do when a tournament of this calibre is in town is to go to the site and watch both matches and practices.

"Champions take it in through their eyes not the ears," he said.

The men's and women's events continue at Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club through Sunday. Admission is free.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 22, 2014 C4

'Dream' scenario for Kylar

Kevin Kylar beat Tony Larson of Minneapolis on Wednesday and will
now have a world ranking somewhere between 1,800th and 2,200th.
(KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

Becomes first Manitoban to earn an ATP point in 25 years

By: Geoff Kirbyson, Winnipeg Free Press

Kevin Kylar can now be found on the same rankings list as Roger Federer, Raphael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Sure, he'll probably be a couple of thousand spots below the best players in the world when the new ATP rankings come out in a couple of weeks, but the important thing is he's there.

Kylar, 19, became the first Manitoba tennis player since 1989 to earn an ATP point when he beat Tony Larson of Minneapolis in the first round of the Manshield Futures tournament at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club on Wednesday.

Matthew Akman was the last Manitoban to turn the trick a quarter of a century ago.

Kylar's 2-6, 6-2, 3-0 (retired) win was his first in eight tries in the main draw of a "futures" level of tournament. It will give him one point and a world ranking in the neighbourhood of 1,800 to 2,200.

"It's awesome," he said. "Not too many people can say they've achieved that. It's been a dream of mine since I was little, so it's great."

"You make all these crazy goals when you're 10 and 90 per cent of them don't come through."

Kylar was particularly happy to earn his point in Winnipeg in front of a home crowd.

"Whether I won or lost the point, they were cheering. They were very helpful, very supportive," he said.

Mark Arndt, executive director of Tennis Manitoba, was quick to point out Akman, who was a star junior in Manitoba in the 1980s, had moved out east by the time he earned his ATP point.

"Kevin is the first true Winnipegger," he said.

Arndt will now shift his focus to building on Kylar's success and growing tennis in Manitoba.

"Will this make a kid want to play and be the next guy to get that point? I think it will. We have to capture this momentum and ride the wave. This is big for Manitoba. It will show the kids playing today that if Kevin can do it, they can, too. We won't be waiting 25 years again," he said.

Kylar may be looking up from the bottom of the professional tennis mountain but he has experience with those at the peak. Last March in Indian Wells, Calif., he warmed up Djokovic for 45 minutes prior to his singles final against Federer, which he won 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). The victory included a $1-million prize. (Hitting partners, unfortunately, don't get a cut of that kind of money. They work for tips.)

Kylar might not be done compiling ATP points either. He played fourth-seeded Liam Broady from England in his second-round match late Thursday. He lost the first set before the match was suspended due to rain. The match was slated to be completed this morning.