2nd Annual Canadian University Winter Championships

Tennis Canada played host to the 2^nd Annual Canadian University Winter Tennis Championships at the Aviva Center on March 8 – 10, 2019. It was a busy weekend of exciting tennis with 22 participating teams, 35 fixtures, over 125 participants, and a total of 175 matches across 3 very competitive divisions.

Format of Play

The tournament is a round robin team event that guarantees 3 matches for all teams and provides multiple opportunities to compete over a single weekend.  All divisions played the best of 5 matches with the varsity divisions playing 4 singles and 1 doubles match in each fixture using the fast 4-scoring format through round robin play.  The coed club division played one mixed doubles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, men’s singles and women’s singles using 8 game pro-sets.  In all divisions, the first team to win 3 of the 5 matches within a fixture is declared the winner.

Championship match results

The shortened format made for some exciting matches and many close contests within the round robin boxes.  In the end, York University would advance to the finals in all three divisions where they would face Western University in both the men’s and women’s varsity division and last year’s finalist, Wilfrid Laurier, in the Coed Club division.  The Championship matches were hosted bright and early Sunday morning with the players losing an hour of sleep due to the time change.

Men’s Varsity

Western University men’s team faced a familiar foe in their fellow OUA conference competitor, York University. York battled hard and won the first two singles matches on courts 1 and 2 to take the early lead but Western stormed back to even the score at 2-2. It came down to the doubles point where the Mustangs came out on top in a tie-breaker to pull out the 8-7 (2) win and clinch their 2^nd straight Canadian University Winter Championship.

Women’s Varsity

York University was excited for a re-match against OUA champions, Western University.  The Mustangs edged the Lions  at the Ontario qualifier late last year for a spot in the National Championships so York was determined to deliver a different result this time around. The doubles point was played first and York got off to a quick start securing an 8-5 win.  Western’s Leanna Carpino evened out the score in a match that went the distance against Vanessa Ereqi 6-3, 2-6, 7-10.  York’s Eugenie Lim Ah Tok gave York the lead again with her 6-3, 7-5 win over Western’s Sophie Bui and put the Lions within one point of victory.  York’s Sara Krupica finally secured the third and final point for the Lions with a close win over Camile Duggal 5-7, 6-1, 11-9 which clinched the championship for York.

Club Co-Ed

Wilfred Laurier University was looking to improve on their second place finish last year but a tough York University team stood in their way.  Laurier battled and won the Men’s singles and doubles fixtures, but the York women were too strong and took the women’s singles and doubles. The decider was the mixed doubles match where York won the Championship with a 8-0 win over Laurier.

University tennis goes off-court

After the great play on the courts, it was time for a little fun off the courts as well.  All teams were invited for a social in the Players’ Lounge on March 8^th, where they had an opportunity to chat with all their competitors and have a good time in a relaxed environment. This year over 100 competitors joined us as we watched the Toronto Raptors beat the New Orleans Pelicans, enjoyed a great Italian themed dinner while also playing Ping-Pong and Table Football. Later on in the evening the York University Women’s team decided to serenade their competitors with their rendition of We’re All In This Together from High School Musical.

This year giveaway for all the competitors was a Canadian University Winter Championships Toque.

The tournament was a great mix of high-level competitive play along with the fun and camaraderie that makes university so exciting and fun to join.  Congratulations to all of the competitors for their great play and sportsmanship.  A special thank you to all of the staff and officials who made this year’s tournament such a great success.

Full tournament results are available here.