Photo : National Capital Tennis Association
Over the last month, the ITF Masters Tour made two stops in Canada, with one even coming on the national holiday. And that event went very well for the host nation.
Let’s catch up with the Canadian tennis players competing on the ITF Masters Tour.
MT1000 Mont-Tremblant
While most of the Canadian ITF Masters events this year have been dominated by the host nation, the MT1000 Mont-Tremblant ITF Cup saw a heavy international presence and many foreign players taking home the hardware.
However, the Canadian contingent still came out on top, winning 25 of the 42 competitions in Quebec.
Notably, four Canadians managed to score multiple wins. Kanta Murali (40+ women), Johane Mui (55+ women), and Simon Filiatrault (45+ men) all won the singles and doubles in their respective age groups.
Read also: Shapovalov Denies Altmaier to Advance at Wimbledon
Henry Choi was the lone player to win in different age groups, taking the 35+ doubles title with Simon Tremblay-Larouche and winning the 40+ singles.
Another result of note was the continued dominance of the Soods, Chandril and Lakshit of India, on Canadian soil. For the third event in a row, Chandril won the 30+ singles while teaming up with Lakshit to win the 30+ doubles.
Here is the full list of winners (Canadian unless otherwise noted):
| Men’s Singles | Women’s Singles | Men’s Doubles | Women’s Doubles | |
| 30+ | Chandril Sood (IND) | No Event | Chandril Sood (IND)/ Lakshit Sood (IND) | No Event |
| 35+ | Georg Gamauf (AUT) | Laura Martuzane (LAT) | Henry Choi/ Simon Tremblay-Larouche | Joanne Homza/ Virginie Villani |
| 40+ | Henry Choi | Kanta Murali | No Event | Liane Marr/ Kanta Murali |
| 45+ | Simon Filiatrault | No Event | Simon Filiatrault/ Hugh Kwok | No Event |
| 50+ | Naoki Arimoto (JPN) | Marina Pulvierenti | Naoki Arimoto (JPN)/ Masahiro Sato (JPN) | Jennifer Cherneski/ Olga Tsymbal (UKR) |
| 55+ | Pascal Convers (FRA) | Johane Mui | Grant Cartland/ D Gordon Quinto | Johane Mui/ Sylvie Quenneville |
| 60+ | Christian Laurin | Motoko Sumi (JPN) | David DeFehr/ Denis Dumas | Vicki V Buholz (USA)/ Carolyn Nichols (USA) |
| 65+ | Mats Ljnugman (SWE) | Carolyn Nichols (USA) | Michael McLoughlin/ Brian Millar | Brenda Cameron/ Cora Wills |
| 70+ | Rolf Thung (NED) | Helga Immerfall (USA) | Daniel Grossman (USA)/ Andrew Rae (AUS) | Michelle Hall/ Gillian Shea |
| 75+ | John Tibbits | Toni Novack (USA) | Allard Cote/ Lucien Desmarais | Rosemary Antze/ Anne Hill |
| 80+ | Malcolm J Swanson (USA) | No Event | Nick Ourusoff (USA)/ Malcolm J Swanson (USA) | No Event |
The Mont-Tremblant Cup also featured a few mixed doubles draws, something not commonly seen on the ITF Tours.
Here are the winners (Canadian unless otherwise noted):
- 50+: Julie Martinez, Michel Maheu
- 55+: Christine Olejnik, Da Hong Wong
- 60+: Kelly Stobbe, Andre Brady (PUR)
- 65+: Cyndy Bray, Francine Pilon
- 70+: Linda Thung (NED) Rolf Thung (NED)
MT100 Ottawa
Over the Canada Day weekend, the nation’s capital played host to an MT100 event and the hosts celebrated the holiday in style, winning every single draw at the Ottawa ITF Masters.
Two women, Mariya Toncheva in the 30+ category and Susan Simmons in the 60+, and one man, Rolf Krantz in 50+, were able to win both the singles and doubles in their respective age groups.
Adrian Frei and Li Yu managed to win titles in two different age categories. Frei claimed the men’s 30+ doubles and 40+ singles, while Yu took the 40+ women’s doubles and the 50+ singles.
Here is the full list of winners:
| Men’s Singles | Women’s Singles | Men’s Doubles | Women’s Doubles | |
| 30+ | John Wins-Purdy | Mariya Toncheva | Taylor Ferrier/ Adrian Frei | Emilie Temmerman/ Mariya Toncheva |
| 40+ | Adrian Frei | Rachel Cruickshank | Alexei Bykov/ David Desrochers | Erin Schellings/ Li Yu |
| 50+ | Rolf Krantz | Li Yu | James Grant/ Rolf Krantz | Regina De La Campa/ Eliza Rouse |
| 60+ | Colin McAlpin | Susan Simmons | Robert Donders/ Kent Macleod | Cathy Ohalloran/ Susan Simmons |
| 70+ | James Cameron | Anne Hill | Gary Hawkes/ Michael Sawyer | No Event |
| 80+ | Shaheer Mikhail | No Event | No Event | No Event |
Girdler Solves Clay
Last month, Gerald Girdler won his third ITF Masters title. At the time, all three of those victories had come on grass.
In June, he finally picked up a trophy on a different surface, winning an MT 400 event on clay. Ironically, that victory on the dirt came in a place synonymous with grass. His victory was at the Wimbledon Clay Court Championships.
Read also: Top 5 WTA Moments at the National Bank Open in the 21st Century
Girdler won the 65+ men’s singles title, dropping just one set in four matches. He advanced past top seed Arun Vethakkan who retired in the first set of their semifinal clash before easily defeating Jonathan Browning for the title.
A week later, Girdler was back on his beloved grass and played for the title at the MT200 in Felixstowe, but was defeated in the title match.
