October 29, 2021

Dear readers,

With the influx of success from Canadian women in tennis, we here at ONcourt find ourselves eager to celebrate the women who have been growing the game since the first female match in 1895. This special edition reflects on the mighty legends in tennis that have paved the way for this generation of power houses, such as Billie Jean King who’s fight for gender equality helped to lessen the pay gap between male and female athletes.  We also acknowledge the significance of tennis great Serena Williams, with an excellent piece from Baseline Media, reminding us of the great impact she has on the game.

This month Pierre Lamarche reflects on his career, and the women behind his success in the article “The Influence of Women in Tennis”. Also, Michal Kokta recounts a recent lesson learned in “The Education of a Coach”, where Kokta highlights some of the differences (and similarities) between coaching young men and women, which supports Bianca Andresscu recent interview where she attributed some of her success to Tennis Canada’s coaching methods, where the gender and age of players play a big part in their development plan.

Despite the obvious success of female athletes, they must still contend with some passé logic, but the gender gap is closing as women today are diverse and inclusive in our sport more than ever before.

Thank you to the tennis heroines who have paved the way, and to the present-day female competitors for representing our women and country with unwavering vigor and spirit.

Laurence Lamarche, Executive Editor, ONcourt

We would love to hear from you. Please send all feedback to the Editor’s Desk.