Two ITF Masters events in month of April were largely dominated by the Canadians. At the first, it was the women who cleaned up, with the men following suit at the second.
Here is the monthly Masters Tennis update by Abrysvo.
MT700 Vancouver
Canada’s women shone at one of the largest ITF Masters events held in the Great White North, the 47th Annual VLTBC Masters Indoor Tennis Championship, an ITF MT700 event. The Canadian women accounted for every single title across the 20 draws, with even every doubles event being won by all-Canadian teams.
As part of their sweep, the Canadian women largely spread the wealth. 27 different women won at least one title at the event, with just three doubling up. Lynette Li (45+) and Micheline Berry (75+) won the singles and doubles titles in their respective divisions, while Kateryna Filyus won both the 40+ and 50+ doubles titles.
The men did a solid job of their own defending their turf, accounting for seven of 10 singles titles and getting at least one hand on the trophy in all 10 doubles draws. Only the men’s 45+ saw a winning team of a Canadian and an American (Josh Basha of the USA and Canada’s Henry Choi).
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Choi (45+), Hannes Blum (55+), and David DeFehr (60+) all won both the singles and doubles titles in their divisions.
Here is the full list of winners from the Vancouver Masters events. All players are Canadian unless indicated otherwise:
| Men’s Singles | Women’s Singles | Men’s Doubles | Women’s Doubles |
30+ | Benjamin David Barad (USA) | Khristina Blajkevitch | Shikhar Nehru/ | Daniella Silva/ |
35+ | Shannon Nelson (USA) | Christie Lee | Paul Beaton/ | Renata Reid/ |
40+ | Michael Pietras | Katherine Sakalauskas | Fiachra Lennon/ | Kateryna Filyus/ |
45+ | Henry Choi | Lynette Li | Josh Basha (USA)/ | Lynette Li/ |
50+ | Mika Leskinen (FIN) | Jennifer Cherneski | Julien Heine/ | Jennifer Bishop/ |
55+ | Hannes Blum | Susie Lang-Gould | Hannes Blum/ | Anne Lydon/ |
60+ | David DeFehr | Wendy Banham | David DeFehr/ | Carol Lau/ |
65+ | Stephen Kimoff | Mary Potter | Paul Devine/ | Jacquie Andrews/ |
70+ | Carl Sechen (USA) | Gillian Shea | Moe Rahemtulla/ | Janice Clark/ |
75+ | Oscar Woodman | Micheline Berry | Chris Burr/ | Micheline Berry/ |
MT100 Mississauga
A little over a week later, the ITF Tour came east to Mississauga, ON, for the Premier Racquet Club Masters Spring Fling. This time, it was the men’s turn to clean up for the hosts, with Canadian’s claiming all five singles titles and all four doubles titles (there was no 40+ doubles).
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Leo Lukic (men’s 30+) and Ivan Balic (50+) were the two players to double up at the event, winning both singles and doubles in their respective divisions.
It was a smaller women’s field in Mississauga, with only four draws being contested. Canadians won two of three singles events and Irene Kondryna shared the lone doubles title with Ukraine’s Olga Tsymbal.
Here is the full list of winners from the Mississauga Masters events. All players are Canadian unless indicated otherwise:
| Men’s Singles | Women’s Singles | Men’s Doubles | Women’s Doubles |
30+ | Leo Lukic | Jasna Mehmedovic (GER) | Leo Lukic/ | No Event |
40+ | Michael Pietras | No Event | No Event | No Event |
50+ | Ivan Balic | Erin Boynton | Ivan Balic/ | Irene Kondryna/ |
60+ | Brian Millar | Cindy O’Doherty | Paul Ciccone/ | No Event |
70+ | Daryl Howes-Jones | No Event | Istvan Kovarcsik/ | No Event |
There is a bit of a break from ITF events in Canada over the next few weeks. The next one on the calendar will take place at the end of May back in Vancouver again.
Here is a list of Canadians who reached finals outside of Canada over the last month on the ITF Masters Tour (titles in bold):
- Da Hong Wong: MT200 Bangkok men’s 60+ doubles runner-up (w/ Bernier), MT400 Anning men’s 60+ doubles runner-up
- Scott Gerrity: MT400 Valencia men’s 60+ doubles champion (w/ Joubert)
- Alison Hannah-Taylor: MT400 Roehampton women’s 60+ singles champion
- Marcel Joubert: MT400 Valencia men’s 60+ doubles champion (w/ Gerrity)
- Can Kantarci: MT400 Istanbul men’s 30+ singles champion
- Marc Bernier: MT200 Bangkok men’s 60+ doubles runner-up (w/ Wong)
- Kevin Wu: MT100 Hangzhou men’s 30+ singles runner-up
April also saw the return of Canada’s regional Masters Tennis championships, with the Eastern Canadian Men’s Championships being held. Click the links below for those results:
The full Western Canadian Championships are taking place this week, while the Eastern Canadian Women’s Championships are being held next week.
Photo : Vancouver Lawn Tennis & Badminton Club
