Christopher Simnett: Abanda Walks into Girls’ U18 National Final Four

April 6, 2011

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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Top-seed Francoise Abanda of Quebec had the easiest possible route to the semifinals of the girls’ Under-18 Rogers Jr. Nationals with a walkover win over fifth-seed Evangeline Repic of Ontario on Wednesday.

Abanda will take the extra day of rest into her semifinal with Ontario’s Amy He on Friday at Toronto’s Mayfair Parkway Club. He edged ninth-seed Solomiya Zinko 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-2 in Wednesday’s quarter-finals.

Second-seed Kimberley-Ann Surin of Quebec defeated Erin Routliffe of Ontario, last week’s Under-16 champion, 6-3, 6-3 in another quarter-final on Wednesday. Surin will play Ontario’s Nikolette Budai in Thursday’s semis after Budai was a a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Quebec’s Catherine Leduc on Wednesday.

In doubles, the top-seeded pair of Evangeline Repic and Erin Routliffe had to pull out of the tournament, so the unseeded Quebec pair of Michelle Dandik and Catherine Parenteau-St-Antoine advanced to the semifinals by walkover. They will play sixth-seeds Catherine Leduc and Laurence Pelchat of Quebec in Thursday’s semis. Leduc and Pelchat defeated third-seeds Gloria Liang and Solomiya Zinko of Ontario 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 on Wednesday.

Thursday’s other semi will see second-seeds Elianne Douglas-Miron and Kimberley-Ann Surin of Quebec take on Nada Marjanovic of Ontario and Aissa Muamba of Quebec.

Douglas-Miron and Surin defeated unseeded Albertans Jena Cheng and Mikaela Bennett 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday while Marjanovic and Muamba beat fifth-seeds Joan Cannon and Amy He of Ontario 6-4, 6-2.

Mental Strength Training with Patricia Hy

November 30, 2020

Everyone knows the importance of mental strength, but not everyone knows how to go about it. If these ring a bell with you, let me help strengthen your player’s mental fitness. Zoom workshops every Friday November 20 – December 18. 2020.

Next Gen Tennis League promises exciting matches

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The Next Gen Tennis League again saw some great tennis last weekend at The Credit Valley Tennis Club and Burlington Tennis Club. This promises that Saturday the 24th will feature some exciting matches and very competitive tennis. All three matches will be played on Saturday October 24th, with Team Byte Network Security facing Team Hydrogen at noon (Burlington Tennis Club).

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Toronto, October 13, 2020 – The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced on Tuesday that, as of 2021, the Men’s 85 World Team Championships will be renamed the Lorne Main Cup after the late Canadian. Lorne Main was selected for the honour following a unanimous vote by the ITF Seniors Committee, and approval from the ITF Board of Directors, after his name was put forward by Tennis Canada as part of the nomination process.

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Yves was proud to work with players including Greg Rudsedski, Patricia Hy, Oliver Marach, Eugenie Bouchard and Rebecca Marino, who achieved excellent results on the world stage. He was an Olympic Coach in Barcelona 1992 & Atlanta 1996, and Captain of the Canadian FedCup Team 1998 – 2000.

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I would like to share a mindset I instil in all the players I coach, one I believe has greatly influenced all of the player’s performances; “whatever happens, I can handle it.” This mindset is achieved through a systematic, tactical development process, so that whoever the opponent, whatever the surface, regardless of the environment, or scoring, the players can, and will rise to the challenge as it is presented.

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Many are asking this question, each with their own opinion, their own truth. In reality, it is difficult to answer with certainty, as the evaluation method can vary from one person to another. However, when you think about it, when you look at the references in the field of coaching in various sports, there are certain common and fundamental elements that I will describe to you here…