Junior Update by Har-Tru: Canadians Sweep Winnipeg, Kamloops

It was a busy month in Canada on the ITF Junior circuit, highlighted by some great performances by the Canadians in Winnipeg and Kamloops. 

Overall, there were four ITF events played in the Great White North over the last four weeks. 

Here is your monthly junior update presented by Har-Tru.     

J30 Ottawa 

Victor Mayer was the lone Canadian to get his hands on a trophy in the nation’s capital in early June. He won the doubles title in Ottawa with American Connor Plunkett. Mayer also reached the singles semifinals, where he lost to his doubles partner. 

On the girls side, Canada’s best shot at a title was also in the doubles where Neda Rahimkhani reached the final with American Sobee Oak, but they were defeated in straight sets. 

J30 Niagara on the Lake 

The host nation got swept by their neighbours in Niagara, with all four titles being won by Americans. 

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Canada did get two looks at titles in Southern Ontario. Cadence Benchetrit and Zackary Kimelman got to the boys doubles final but lost 10-4 in the match tiebreak to an American pair. Anna Tabunshchyk was the top seed in the girls singles and reached the final but withdrew. 

J30 Winnipeg 

After two events dominated by the Americans on Canadian soil, the hosts bounced back in Winnipeg with a sweep of their own.  

Elicia Lin won both the girls singles and doubles (with Havana Kadi). Gary Jiang and Dani Farran met in both the boys singles and doubles finals and split the titles. Jiang won the singles, while Farran took the doubles with Jakob Gaudreau Barnes. 

J30 Kamloops 

The junior event in Kamloops at the beginning of July was also a sweep for the host nation. In fact, every semifinalist at the BC event was Canadian. 

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Havana Kadi was the only person to win in both Winnipeg and Kamloops, claiming the singles title at the latter. She and Lin almost went back-to-back in the doubles but lost the Winnipeg final to the Amys, Lu and Shen. 

Boys top seed Volodymyr Gurenko took the singles title without dropping a set. Eric William Wang lost to Gurenko in the singles final but won the doubles with Mustafa Raja. 

Here is the full list of champions at the Canadian ITF Junior events over the last month (all Canadian unless otherwise noted):   

There is another ITF event taking place this week in Vancouver. 

Dong Keeps Rolling in 2024 

17-year-old Emma Dong has been on a tear in 2024 and the last four weeks were her best stretch yet. 

Dong picked up three titles over the last four weeks, doubling her 2024 total. She won one singles title at the J100 event in Veracruz, Mexico, not dropping a set on her way to victory. It was her third singles title in a row and part of a 14-match winning streak. 

She added two J200 doubles titles, one also in Veracruz with fellow Canadian Zoya Chulak and one in Tampico Mexico with American Nancy Lee. She did not drop a set in either title run. 

Here is a list of Canadians who reached finals at events outside of Canada over the last month (Titles in bold)      

• Emma Dong: J100 Veracruz girls singles champion, J200 Veracruz girls doubles champion (w/ Chulak), J200 Tampico girls doubles champion 
• Zoya Chulak: J200 Veracruz girls doubles champion (w/ Dong), J100 Veracruz girls doubles runner-up (w/ Celebrini) 
• Abigail Gordon: J30 Noord girls doubles champion 
• Charlize Celebrini: J100 Veracruz girls doubles runner-up (w/ Chulak) 
• Kayla Lorrimer: J30 Niksic girls singles runner-up 
• Sophie Dement: J30 Trujillo girls doubles runner-up 
• Benjamin Azar: J30 Tsakhadzor boys doubles runner-up 
• Rafael Brown: J30 Noord boys doubles runner-up (w/ Plante) 
• Zachary Plante: J30 Noord boys doubles runner-up (w/ Brown) 

Rankings Update 

Dong’s recent success has seen her ranking continue to rise. She is now up to No. 117 in the ITF rankings, second amongst the Canadian girls. Nadia Lagaev is the highest-ranked Canadian at No. 88. 

Nicolas Arseneault is the top Canadian boy at No. 109. 

Check out the full ITF junior rankings here.