U14 and U18 Winners Crowned at Fischer Indoor Nationals

Photo: Peter Figura

While it was fiery American stars like Ben Shelton and Danielle Collins winning titles on the professional circuit, young Canadian juniors were making names for themselves at the Fischer Indoor Junior Nationals this past week in Toronto and Vancouver.

The Under 18 and Under 14 Boys and Girls divisions wrapped up action from the two metropolitan host cities this past weekend.

Let’s look back at the results of the action:

U18

In a competitive Girls field, Gabriella Vannessa Lindgren of British Columbia, who was unseeded heading into the event, broke through for a championship run, toppling three seeds en route to her first national title.

In the finals, she rallied for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over runner-up Isabella Marton of Vaughan, Ontario. It’s Vannessa Lindgren’s first career national title. First seed Emma si yu Dong of Quebec would finish third place, defeating Zoya Rosa Chulak 6-4, 6-2.

In the doubles field, Oakville’s Lily Rochon and Jacey Tian of Aurora, Ontario earned four strong victories to capture the title, defeating Dylan Gelber and Samila Jarrah 6-4, 6-7, 10-7 in a closely contested final. Rochon and Tian also teamed up to win the provincial championships in Toronto last March.

Meanwhile, top seeded Nicolas Arsenault was dominant from start to finish in the Boys division, capturing his second career junior nationals title.

After defeating his brother Mikael 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals, the Richmond Hill, Ontario player would topple the runner-up Andres Valentin Ispas 6-0, 6-3 in the final to seize the victory. Older sister Ariana Arseneault is also a competitive tennis player, currently competing at Auburn University, and has achieved a career-high WTA ranking of #651.

Listen: Match Point Canada S3, Episode 40 – Ariana Arseneault

In the doubles, the second-seeded pairing Miko Lapalme and Benjamin Azar would win a tightly contested final, rallying past Alec Barin and Loic Petrecca 5-7, 6-4, 10-7 to win the championship. Lapalme also won both singles and doubles U16 crowns the previous week in Verdun, Quebec. Azar of Toronto was a U14 national champion in doubles in 2022.

The U18 competitors were also greeted with a surprise visitor – 2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu stopped by to meet the juniors in action, lend her advice, and pose for some photos.

Photo: Peter Figura

U14
Out west at the UBC Tennis Centre in Vancouver, the U14 category was held with 77 boys and girls competitors squaring off in singles and doubles play.

In the Girls singles category, top seeded Amy Shen of Vancouver was the champion, winning seven total singles matches, closing with a hard fought 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 comeback victory over Rachel Wu. Shen was also champion in both singles and doubles at the Indoor Junior Provincials in February.

Photo: Peter Figura

In doubles, Eve Thibault of Quebec and Isabella Ruyu Yan of Saskatchewan teamed up to capture the title, fighting back to beat top seeds Alyssa Beltei and Payton Charley Dith 0-6, 6-4, 10-6 in the final.

Meanwhile, in the boys singles division, first seeded Callum Mackinnon of Ontario had a near flawless run to the title, capturing the national championship without dropping a set across seven matches. In the finals, he would defeat runner-up Julian Mahdavi 6-2, 6-3.

In doubles, the Quebecois team of Marc-Edouard L’Allier and Joachim Marx won the title, defeating Luca Vicol and Alden S.K. Yu 6-2, 7-5 in the championship match.

The Fischer Indoor Junior Nationals are named after The Green Fischer Family Trust who, in July 2023, made the single-largest donation in Tennis Canada’s history of $3 million.

Written By

Ben Lewis