Written by: Christopher Simnett

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***Chris grew up playing tennis in B.C. and was ranked as high as No. 2 provincially in the U12 and U16 divisions. He played in two junior national championships in the 80s. Now 39 years old, he is the “community champion” for the Tennis Canada Building Tennis Communities strategy in Airdrie, AB, where he lives with his wife and eight-year-old son. Chris spent 15 years as a journalist writing about sports for newspapers in B.C. and Alberta. He now works in public relations in Calgary. To learn more about Chris and his blog, please visit www.alltennis.ca***

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Katherine Sebov of Ontario is the top seed in the girls’ division at the Under-12 nationals at the Tennis Academy in Calgary. Sebov is in a round-robin group with Anca Craciun of Ontario and Betina Stanescu of Quebec.

Natasha Irani of Ontario is seeded second in the event and is in a round-robin group with Brindtha Ramasamy of Ontario and Noemie Lapointe of Quebec.

Another Ontarian, Vanessa Wong, is seeded third and takes on Alex Walker of B.C. and Annika Wiebe of Prince Edward Island in her round-robin pool.

Alberta’s Kirsten Prelle is seeded fourth and will battle Andreea Craciun and Mikayla Fan of B.C. and Alberta’s Maya Dukaric in the round-robin. Fifth-seed Amy Wagowsky of Ontario faces ninth-seed Anne-Sophie Hetu of Quebec, Mia Edger-Lacoursiere of Quebec and Alberta’s Marina Culo in the round-robin. Sixth-seed Sofija Zecevic of Ontario has 10th seed Ashleigh Jacobs of Alberta, Ines Milosevic of Ontario and B.C.’s Jessie Gong to contend with in her round-robin pool while seventh-seed Tamara Racine-Beauchamp of Quebec must face Emilie Corbett of Quebec, Nina Erdevicki of B.C. and Kiko Cunningham of Alberta in the round-robin. Finally, eighth-seed Tereza Simonova of Alberta faces 12th seed Darya Maltseva of Ontario along with Simona Agapi and Camille Godin of Quebec in the round-robin.

Alexis Galarneau of Quebec is seeded first in the boys’ U12 event. Galarneau faces Kamen Damov of Quebec and Alberta’s Ryan Loke in the round-robin. Second-seed Denis Shapalov of Ontario faces Hielke Moore of New Brunswick, Simon Stoula of Ontario and Issac Davies of B.C. in his round-robin pool.

Felix Auger-Aliassime of Quebec will battle Sash Stolba of B.C., Jose Lopez-Peterson of Alberta and Loic Rahier of Ontario in his round-robin pool while fourth-seed Jack Mingjie Lin of Ontario will face Danny Wu and Matush Polakovic of Alberta along with Kiran Phaterpekar of B.C. in the round-robin.

Alexandar Petrovic of Ontario is the fifth-seed and he faces 11th seed Jack Davis of B.C., Nicholas Bendza of Newfoundland and Labrador and Daniel Wolfman of Alberta in the round-robin. Sixth-seed Dan Martin of Quebec will battle fellow Quebecker and 12th seed Nazar Achour, Ontario’s Tyler O’Meara and Alberta’s Andres Barrero in the round-robin while seventh-seed Nicaise Muamba of Quebec faces 10th seed Michael Anthony Tummillo of Quebec, Larry Zhao of B.C. and Daniel Fainblum of Ontario in the round-robin.

Ivan Mitric, the eighth-seed from Ontario, gets ninth-seed Gabriel Champoux of Quebec in the round-robin along with Maximillian Szczypien of Alberta and Cedric Rupa of New Brunswick.

Singles action gets underway Monday at Calgary’s Tennis Academy.