Tennis Canada announced on Monday that Louis Borfiga, Vice President of High Performance, will be retiring in the fall of 2021 to be able to spend more time with his family back in France. His illustrious career spanned over six decades in the world of elite tennis, first as a player and then on the High Performance side of the sport.

“My Canadian adventure will go down as one of the best highlights of my career,” stated Louis Borfiga, Vice President of High Performance at Tennis Canada. “The success that tennis in Canada has enjoyed over the past 15 years is a collective success and I am very proud to have played a part.”

Originally from Monaco, Borfiga has made Canada his home for over 15 years and is a proud Canadian citizen, which was made official during a virtual ceremony earlier this year. He arrived in Montreal in 2006 when he joined Tennis Canada as the Vice President of High Performance and established a tennis program for elite athletes in September 2007, which became the National Tennis Centre presented by Rogers in Montreal. This program went on to develop some of the best talent the country has ever seen. From some of the very first pool of athletes including Milos Raonic, Eugenie Bouchard and Rebecca Marino to the next generation of talented professionals in Félix Auger-Aliassime and Bianca Andreescu as well as the newest young members, he played a role in shaping their development both as elite players as well as great human beings.

“Louis brought a culture of winning to tennis in Canada and helped build a world class system and structure with our partners,” said Hatem Mcdadi, Senior Vice President of Tennis Development at Tennis Canada. “He is a wise, generous, kind, and humble person. A man of great values and principles, his care for our athletes, coaches and partners is second to none. His simple yet profound and direct approach to development has been very inspirational as he helped us dream big and deliver historic world class results in conjunction with many exceptional athletes, families, personal coaches and partners. We are so grateful to Louis and his historic contributions to our sport. We wish him and his family lots of health and happiness and at the same time we are very happy to have Louis stay on as a consultant as we build off all the recent success and deliver more remarkable results”. 

Under his watchful eye, tennis in Canada soared to new heights. Among the numerous accomplishments that took place during his tenure, the Davis Cup team reached the Final in 2019, Canada got its first singles Grand Slam Champion when Bianca Andreescu captured the title at the US Open as well as a number of other major titles from our players, both at the junior and professional levels.

“Louis has been a valuable member of the Tennis Canada family for the past 15 years and his contributions to our sport and tennis in Canada seem almost immeasurable,” stated Jennifer Bishop, Chair of the Board at Tennis Canada. “It has been a pleasure to follow the path of excellence that he created. Louis’ vision helped bring tennis in Canada to new heights and we will be forever grateful for the impact he has had on our organization and our players.”

And his list of successes doesn’t end there. Prior to joining Tennis Canada, Borfiga led a similar program for the French Tennis Federation. He was the national coach in charge of junior athletes and went on to manage the French National Tennis Centre for players aged 18 years and older. He helped develop the likes of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gaël Monfils, Gilles Simon, Nicolas Mahut and Julien Benneteau, to name a few.

Most may not know, but Louis Borfiga was also a player on the professional tour. He reached his career-high ranking of no. 308 in 1975. He also represented Monaco at the Davis Cup, joined the French team at the age of 16 and was crowned junior champion of France at the ages of 14, 16 and 18. He retired from his playing career at the age of 22 to become a coach at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, where he served as a training partner for none other than Björn Borg. He later joined the French Tennis Federation.

In retirement, Borfiga is looking to spend more time with his family back home in France. He plans to move back to France with his wife Marie-Claude and be reunited with his parents and his son. Borfiga will continue as an honorary advisor and consultant with the High Performance team to help ensure a smooth transition. To highlight his many accomplishments, a celebration is being organized for later in the summer.

Tags
Popular reads