The ITF Wheelchair Tennis Tour arrived in Canada for the first time in 2026 earlier in April and a Canuck rolled away with one of the winners’ trophies. Markham, ON, played host to the first big wheelchair event on Canadian soil this year, the WC50 Premier Racquet Club Wheelchair Classic. 14 of the 22 athletes entered were Canadian.
Here is the monthly wheelchair tennis update.
Shawn Courchesne reigned victorious in the quad division, which was played as a round robin, winning all four of his matches in straight sets. Of the eight sets he played, three were bagels, with only Hisham Mohammad managing to win at least one game in each set of a match against him. In total, Courchesne lost just nine games in four matches, only losing more than two in a set once.
“Great match today. I wasn't too sure what to expect from my opponent, he put up some good scores against the other players this weekend. I had a great warm-up and was feeling really good. And it showed on court,” said Courchesne after winning his fourth and final match. “I was able to hit clean, heavy balls to my opponent so I received a lot of short balls that I could put away. Thank you to [Premier Racquet Club] for a great tournament. Looking forward to the next one in Windsor!”
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The victory was Courchesne’s sixth ITF quad singles title in his career, with all six titles coming in the last twelve months.
Both the men’s and women’s singles finals, as well as the men’s doubles final, featured Canadians, but none were able to finish on top.
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Thomas Venos reached the men’s singles final without dropping a set, although he snuck out his semifinal with compatriot Barry Henderson 7-5, 7-6(2). However, he was beaten in the final by American Charlie Cooper in straight sets.
Anne-Marie Dolinar got to the final in the women’s singles but also fell in straight sets at the hands of American Sabina Czauz.
Cooper and Italian partner Francesco Felici denied Henderson and his American partner Edgar Vidriales in the men’s doubles final. The women’s doubles was a three-team round robin, with Czauz and fellow American Elizabeth Williams finishing on top. Dolinar and her American partner Ashley Sisti finished second, with the all-Canadian team of Marilyn Abbs and Vicky Morton coming third.
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The ITF swing in Canada continues this week down in Windsor, ON, a WC50 event.
Courchesne on the Board in Houston
Courchesne’s victory in Markham was his second singles title of 2026. A week prior to the win on home soil, the Canadian picked up his first singles title of the year at the WC100 Uh Cougar Open in Houston, Texas.
The 33-year-old cruised through the quad singles draw in that event, dropping just six games on his way to the title. He beat fellow Canuck Mitch McIntyre in the semifinals 6-3, 6-0 before claiming the trophy with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Jose Arriaga of Mexico.
With his victories in April, Courchesne currently sits at a career-high of No. 21 in the ITF quad singles rankings.
Feature Photo : Geoff Robins
