Junior Tennis
By no stretch of the imagination can Canada be considered a power-house in tennis. If you overlook men`s doubles, and unfortunately the world does, Canada ranks very low. However, in the past, it is in women`s tennis that we have made a mark and produced world caliber players who, in their time, were in serious contention in any tournament they entered
It started, of course, with Carling Bassett ,now Carling Bassett Seguso, born in1967, who at the tender age of 15 won the girls under 18 championship at the Orange Bowl tournament in Florida, and was ranked #2 in the world in junior competition.. She went on in the same year to lose to Chris Evert in the finals at a W.T.A. tournament at Amelia Island. Carling recorded the best result in a Grand Slam event of any Canadian losing to Evert in the semi-finals of the U.S. open. She also reached the quarter finals in the 1983 Australian Open, and the quarters in the French Open in 1984 and 86. Her greatest achievement is to be ranked in the the top ten of women`s tennis
Helen Kelesi, another world class Canadian woman was born in 1969. She was named Canadian tennis player of the year, the same year that she that she attained the ranking of 13th in the world She reached the fourth round of the French Open in 1967, and the 3rd round of the U.S. Open in 1986 and 87 Kelesi recorded wins over Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Conchita Martinez, Janna Novotna, Helena Sukova, and Pam Shriver . She pushed Chris Evert hard in some high profile matches.
On a level below Helen and Carling, but still players of consequence are Patricia Hy-Boulais and Sonya Jeyaseelan. Patricia in 1993 was ranked 28th in the world and Sonia in 2000 48th. Sonya reached the 3rd round of the Australian Open and pulled off a major upset by beating the 6th in the world, Venus Williams in a tournament at Amelia Island. Sonya at that time was a qualifier ranked 140.
All the aforementioned players played for Canada in Federation Cup play.
Sharon Fichman aged 15, from Toronto, Gabriela Dabrowski, 14, from Gloucester (near Ottawa) and Katerena Paliivets, 14, from Richmond Hill have been achieving great results in international junior play.
It is at this age that aspiring Canadian juniors must win in any Canadian tournament at least two age groups higher than their age and in international tournaments at their age or higher to be of significance in world tennis.
The opportunities to play are available but what is needed is an active national federation, parents with the desire, time and money for travel and coaches and, of course, dedicated players who want to practice daily and are fit, both physically and mentally.
Sharon Fichman, the eldest of the three young women, has made astounding progress. She plays for Canada in the Federation Cup, the equivalent of the Davis Cup in the women’s division, and she won the Australian Grand Slam doubles championship in 2006. Sharon is currently at the age of fifteen, number thirteen in the world in junior women under 18. She has played professionally, earning money in Vancouver, Toronto, Saguenay and Israel. Her parents, Bob and Julia, both engineers, are supportive of her efforts. Sharon is an A student and keeps up with classes, although she is away from school competing in tournaments. Ben Armstrong, her coach, travels with her when she is not traveling with the Tennis Canada team.
Gabriela Dabrowski made a startling entrance into world competition by winning “Les Petits As” in Torbes, France which is considered the world championship of girls under 14. She spent one month is Saddlebrook, Florida, a tennis academy, and plans this summer to play Girls Under 18 tournaments in Poland. Gaby is 5’8”, a height similar to the big winners in world competition. Her parents, Yurek and Wanda, are keen supporters and the Weston Hotel chain that employs Yurek, allows him to take time off to accompany his young daughter on tournaments.
Katerina Paliivets won an important tournament, “Teen Tennis”, in Bolton, Great Britain and along with Gabriela and Kristina Blajkevith, won a qualifying tournament in Mexico beating the U.S., Mexican and Bahamas teams. They will thus play for the Junior Fed Cup in Europe, one of the most prestigious junior tournaments. Katerina is now in Spain at a tennis academy for two months of intensive training and is coached by Sonya Jeyaseelan. Katerina’s parents are computer programmers and are vitally interested in Katerina’s efforts.
The time is right for reaching the top of the tennis world. Tennis Canada is led by Michael Downing who has experience in promoting sports and Hatem McDadi, a former Canadian tennis pro. They have hired two top coaches in Louis Borfiga, from the French academy, and Bob Brett, from Australia, to further the stated Tennis Canada’s aims to be a factor in world tennis competition.
Carling Bassett-Seguso, in furthering her career, had no money problems. The parents of these young ladies scramble to get enough money for coaches and travel. The Tevlin family has donated $500,000 for the promotion of tennis in Canada and Tennis Canada is looking for other interested Canadians to step forward.
It is interesting to note that a preponderance of the top world class players is from Eastern Europe. While our girls are Canadian born, their parents, with the exception of Gabriela’s mother, are immigrants from Poland, Romania and the Ukraine. It must be in the genes.
