Tennis Canada mourns the passing of Don Fontana

By Tom Tebbutt

July 19, 2015

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DON FONTANA: 1931-2015 Don Fontana, a prominent figure on the Canadian tennis scene for more than six decades, has died in Toronto at age 84. As a player, Fontana played all the Grand Slam tournaments, except for the Australian championships, multiple times. He was a Canadian Davis Cup player and No. 2-ranked in the country in the 1950s and 1960s behind Canadian legend Bob Bedard. At the Canadian championships, predecessor of the Canadian Open/Rogers Cup, he won the doubles with Bedard in 1955, 1957 and 1959. Fontana was also a former Davis Cup captain, Canadian Open tournament director from 1971 to 1978 and a longtime television commentator, mainly for CTV Sports. He was a dedicated tennis player into his 80s, mainly at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club where he was a fixture since being given playing privileges there as a promising junior.