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Melissa Boyd

Milos Raonic Becomes Canada’s Ambassador for Kids’ Tennis

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Behind the scenes at the PSA shoot in Vancouver

Following in the footsteps of the USTA and their progressive tennis program endorsed by First Lady Michelle Obama, Tennis Canada has launched a new campaign to promote the active, healthy living of children through the sport of tennis. World no. 26 Milos Raonic will be the ambassador for Kids’ Tennis, a scaled-down version of the sport that ensures earlier success for children by using modified racquets, balls and nets.
Kids’ Tennis is a way to attract young children to the game and allow them to improve their tennis skills quicker which makes for a more fun and successful transition to a regular court.
“Getting more kids playing the sport of tennis in Canada is extremely important to me,” said Raonic. “I hope that my recent success and results on the ATP World Tour will help to inspire more people to pick up a racquet. But they also need to know there are now easier ways for their children to learn the sport with this smaller equipment that is tailored to suit their abilities. That’s what I’m hoping these public service announcements will accomplish.”
The campaign will roll out in the form of two public service announcements with supporting print elements aimed at raising awareness and encouraging participation. Raonic made himself available for both the TV and print creative development which was shot over a full day at the Hollyburn Country Club in Vancouver early during the week of Davis Cup in February.

Developed by Toronto ad agency Bensimon Byrne, the two public service announcements take a humorous approach using role reversal where Raonic, the 6’5” ATP World Tour star, has difficultly playing Kids’ Tennis against a young girl. The spots began airing in Canada this past weekend during the final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and will run continuously on several stations throughout the summer.. To date, the PSAs have been very well received, getting over 2,700 views on YouTube since last Thursday.  Watch the first PSA below. The second one will be posted this week.

Wozniak Shows Winning Attitude in Loss to Venus at Miami

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Aleksandra Wozniak played Venus Williams tough in Miami

Aleksandra Wozniak was a forehand away from scoring one of the biggest wins of her career in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida. The 24-year-old Canadian held match point against seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams, but couldn’t close the deal, falling 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5)in a two-hour, 53 minute match that had more ups and downs than a roller coaster.
Wozniak showed flashes of her Top 20 form from two years ago against the inspirational Williams who is playing her first tournament since being diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome at last year’s U.S. Open. After getting through her first two matches, Williams appeared sluggish and Wozniak took full advantage, playing deep, penetrating shots to keep her opponent on her heels.
Still, every time it looked like Wozniak was going to knock out the tournament sentimental favourite, either nerves or Williams’ champion’s mentality got her in the way. Serving for the match at 5-4 in the third set, Wozniak survived two wild double faults to earn a match point which she wasted by putting a sitting forehand into the net. The Canadian didn’t go away though as she rebounded to force a third set tiebreak which, like the rest of the match, went back and forth until Williams converted her second match point with a service winner. Despite the pain of the circumstances, Wozniak showed a lot of class staying to sign autographs on court after shaking hands and chose to focus on the positives in her post-match comments.
“It would have been a big victory for me. It hurts and it is disappointing, but the important thing is that I’m healthy and progressing,” Wozniak said. “One thing is for sure, I am going to keep fighting.”
Wozniak is no stranger to coming up short in tight matches against top players. In 2010 she lost a pair of matches 6-4 in the third to Elena Dementieva at Roland-Garros and Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon. A few weeks ago in Dubai she lost 7-5 in the third to Agnieszka Radwanska. While all of the attention has been about the Williams comeback, Wozniak is also climbing the ranks again following a series of personal and physical setbacks that kept her off the court for significant chunks of time over the past two seasons. She won her maiden WTA title four years ago at Stanford, defeating Samantha Stosur, Serena Williams and Marion Bartoli en route. Wozniak reached a career-high ranking of no. 21 in June of 2009 and Williams was the first to acknowledge that a formidable player was across the net from her on Centre Court in Key Biscayne.
“It was tough out there. It was made even tougher because she played well, Williams said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her play as well as she did. She was close to the Top 20, so she has that tennis in her. I have to give her a lot of credit.”
With her third round performance in Miami, Wozniak will move close to Top 60 on the WTA rankings after a fruitful March that also saw her win the Nassau Challenger in the Bahamas. She is once again the top-ranked Canadian and is making a strong push towards her season goal of representing Canada at the Olympics in London. With her free-flowing all around game and genuine personality, Wozniak will come through in her fair share matches in 2012, and win over a lot of new fans in the process.

Wozniacki is at a Crossroads

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Wozniacki finds herself in a slump

She has finished the least two seasons as the World No.1, won 18 WTA titles on all surfaces, including 12 in 2010 and 2011, winning over 120 matches in that span which is more than any other player. She dealt with constant criticism for being a slam-less No. 1 and faced it head on. With her drive and determination, It seemed that a Grand Slam title was in Caroline Wozniacki’s near future.
However, a string of below standard results which are rooted in a surprise third round loss at the hands of Daniela Hantuchova at Roland-Garros last year, the 21-year-old Dane finds herself at a crossroads for the first time in her young career.  She began 2012 as the no. 1 seed at the Australian Open and just two months later finds herself outside of the Top 5 following a fourth round exit at Indian Wells where she was the defending champion.
Not so long ago, Wozniacki seemed to have everything going for her. She emerged as the face of her generation, full of positive energy and good intentions, ready to embrace her status within the sport. Lately however, Wozniacki has been pushed aside by two of her fellow next generation players, new World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. Undefeated on the season with four titles, Azarenka is having a Djokovic like year and has set the bar very high out of the gate. She and a rejuvenated Maria Sharapova suddenly have a firm hold on  the top two WTA ranking spots and have an interesting rivalry building having already met twice in the two biggest finals of the season so far. Meanwhile, Kvitova can hit anyone off the court, Agnieszka Radwanska is utilizing her all-court game to maximum efficiency, there are four promising Germans in the Top 20, Kim Clijsters and the Williams sisters are on the injury comeback trail and Ana Ivanovic is slowly re-discovering her 2008 form. While the landscape of women’s tennis is changing, Wozniacki’s game appears to be stuck in neutral and she is regressing while her biggest rivals are progressing.
She has made a concerted effort to improve her weakest shot, her forehand, trying to hit it deeper and with more direction. In doing so, Wozniacki has gotten away from the things that made her great to begin with. She prides herself on turning great defense into offence, using her backhand to create openings and willing herself to victory against her toughest opponents. Over the past few months, Wozniacki has been in between strategies as she tries to shape her identity as a player. She wants to be more aggressive, but is struggling to use this mind set as a compliment to her ‘A’ game. In a lopsided loss to Ana Ivanovic in the Round of 16 at Indian Wells, Wozniacki showed signs of frustration and dejection. According to several journalists on-site, she held back tears in her post-match press conference as she tried to explain her decline in form.
By no means is it time to throw in the towel on Wozniacki. She should stick to the style she is most comfortable playing and use it as the base to improve her overall game. Perhaps this means a coaching change is necessary, but only Wozniacki has the answer to that question. One thing is for sure, women’s tennis needs Caroline Wozniacki at her best. Her diligence, work ethic, talent, sunny disposition and passion for the game make her a great role model and spokesperson for her sport.

Raonic Hopes to Make Statement Against Federer in Indian Wells

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Milos Raonic will meet Roger Federer in the third round

It was the potential match up that jumped off the page when the draw for the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells came out last week. After winning their opening matches on Sunday, Roger Federer and Milos Raonic are going to make the much-anticipated showdown happen on Tuesday night on Centre Court when the two meet in the third round.
Both player have won a pair of ATP titles in 2012 and are two of the in-form players so far this season. One is the fastest rising star in tennis with arguably the biggest serve in the game, the other is the greatest player of all time who possesses every shot in the book.
Although he has three Top 10 wins since last year and a match against Rafael Nadal, the tennis world  has been waiting impatiently for Raonic to play against one of the ATP’s big four on a big stage. He’s finally going to get his chance. After a nervous showing against a gutsy Lleyton Hewiit on Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open in January, this is an important match for Raonic to step up and make a statement, prove that he can compete with the top players when the spotlight is shining its brightest. It’s less about winning or losing and more about his level of performance. The 21-year-old Canadian appears ready to embrace the challenge.
“It’s going to be interesting. I think we’re both going to be trying to do the same thing to each other, which pretty much is dictate. He’s obviously probably the best guy to ever do that,” Raonic said following his second round win over Carlos Berlocq.“It’s going to be a great match for myself and I’ll try to make the most of it. I know priority number one is going to be to try to take care of my serve and build from there.”
Raonic speaks the truth about his serve. His biggest weapon will need to be firing on all cylinders. Federer will likely force him to move forward with some short slices and angles, so Raonic’s net play will also need to be up to par. If he can dictate points with his serve and signature inside out forehand, the Raonic has a chance to pull off the upset.
For his part, Federer is the hottest player on Tour right now and relishes the opportunity to face off against the promising young players.
“My focus is with your own serve, not to make any mistakes there. And then try your best on his serve. But that’s because he’s known for his big serve and his big sort of one‑two punch,” Federer commented in his post-match press conference on Sunday. “Against a guy like that you’re obviously going to try to make it as athletic as possible. I’m looking forward to that match. He’s a good player. Sometimes it can help and sometimes it cannot help to never have played a guy before.”
On paper, it is a mouth-watering confrontation of the future pitted against the present. Let’s hope that Federer vs. Raonic lives up to the immense expectations that have been placed on it.

A Quartet of Tennis Greats Return to Montreal for Legends Event

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The tennis legends with their Canadiens jerseys

Andre Agassi, Pat Cash, Michael Chang and Ivan Lendl made a much-anticipated return to Montreal on Friday for a Legends Event. Playing in front of just over 8,000 fans at the Bell Centre, home of the Montreal Canadiens, these tennis legends made the crowd forget about their beloved hockey team for at least one night.
Prior to the event, the four players spent the better part of two days in the cities fulfilling media commitments and giving a tennis clinic for a group of kids at a local club. Agassi appeared on a popular evening sports show called l’Antichambre and discussed a variety of topics including his book, “Open”, his foundation and the hip surgery he recently underwent. In fact, the Montreal Legends Event was his first match since the operation.
With the promotional activities completed, it was show time. The evening began with the four players being introduced on court and presented with Canadiens jerseys. Not surprisingly, Agassi was greeted with a standing ovation, he who won three Rogers Cup titles in his career and was adored by the Canadian tennis faithful.
The first match of the night pitted Cash, a late replacement for the injured Jimmy Connors, against Lendl in a rematch of the classic 1987 Wimbledon final which Cash won to claim his only Grand Slam title. Cash’s serve and volley tactics were countered by Lendl’s big serve and forehand. While they may have lost a step or two, their hands and court sense are still one of a kind. Cash was particularly entertaining, high fiving people in the audience, cracking jokes and playing the role of ball boy. Not only did the Aussie  win their pro set 8-6, he also left Montreal with a few new fans.
After an entertaining opening act, it was time for the feature match between Agassi and Chang. The compatriots met 22 times during their illustrious careers, a rivalry that was heated at times. With their relationship patched up, the two were friendly and most importantly, put on a great show. It was vintage Agassi on display. He took the ball early, hitting winners from all over the court. His cross court backhand as pure as ever and his return of serve was just as lethal as the good old days. Chang also brought out his full arsenal of tricks, a big serve, as well as lots of crafty spins and slices. Agassi posted a 7-6(3), 6-3 win, but in the end, the evening was not about the results of course, it was a chance for Montreal fans to renew acquaintances with their favourite players and for their heroes to do the same.
“Hopefully we have added to your lives over the last couple of decades, but you need to know how much you’ve been adding to ours, it is such a pleasure to play for you and to come back here,” Agassi told the crowd after his match.
Organizers announced that a tennis legends event will be held in Montreal each of the next four years including next March at the Bell Centre.

Canadian Tennis Roots Run Deeper than Raonic

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Milos Raonic is the face of Canadian tennis

It would seem that the emergence of Milos Raonic as a bona fide rising star on the ATP World Tour has inspired success from his fellow Canadian tennis compatriots at all levels of the game and this was put on full display last week.
While Raonic was trying to win his second consecutive title in Memphis, Canadians were collecting hardware all over the world. After losing  the 2011 final to Andy Roddick, Raonic once again the runner-up in Memphis, falling to Jurgen Melzer in the championship match on Sunday, one week after repeating in San Jose. This run has propelled him to a career-high ranking of no. 24.
Prior to Raonic stepping on court for the singles final, Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi successfully defended their Memphis doubles title thanks to a 4-6, 7-5, 10-7 win over Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo. The victory is the pair’s second title of 2012 and the fourth trophy triumph for Nestor in Memphis. The Canadian tennis legend also captures doubles title no. 77 in his illustrious career.
Meanwhile, on the ITF Pro Circuit, Steven Diez and Peter Polansky both won their first Futures titles of the year. Diez won the $10,000 Murcia Futures event in Spain, defeating Pedro Sousa of Portugal 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the final. For his part, Polansky was crowned champion of the $15,000 Brownsville Futures in Texas thanks to a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Great Britain’s Daniel Cox on the title match. Polansky lost 18 games in five matches.
Sixteen-year-old Erin Routliffe, whose style of play is drawing comparisons to her compatriot Rebecca Marino, left Canada at the beginning of the month for a four-week South American clay court swing ranked no. 450 on the ITF junior rankings. She returns Monday ranked inside the Top 100 following a successful four tournament run. Routliffe played four Grade 2 events, reaching the semifinals in Peru, the quarter-finals in Bolivia, the final in Chile and concluding the run with another championship match appearance on Saturday at the Argentina Cup. This means there are now four Canadian girls ranked inside the Top 100 on the ITF world junior rankings.
Not to be outdone, Montrealer Félix Auger-Aliassime became the first Canadian boy  to capture the Open Super 12 in Auray, France, one of the most prestigious U12 events on the tennis calendar.
While Raonic is getting all of the attention, the impact of his new status within the sport is being felt everywhere in the tennis world and especially in Canada. Just ask any player who represents the Maple Leaf when they walk on the court.

Raonic Joins the Ranks of the Andys in San Jose

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Milos Raonic successfully defended his San Jose title

Milos Raonic received a bottle of Canadian maple syrup for the second consecutive year from SAP Open tournament director Bill Rapp on Sunday after he successfully defended his San Jose title.
The 21-year-old native of Thornhill, Ontario defeated world no. 61 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-6(3), 6-2 in the championship final to earn his third career title and become the first player since Andy Murray (2006-07) and Andy Roddick (2004-05) to win back-to-back titles in San Jose. Raonic also becomes the first player on the ATP World Tour to capture two titles in 2012 after winning in Chennai during the first week of the season. He is now 11-1 on the year.
Raonic, who did not drop a set en route to the title, once again showcased his dominance on serve, winning 41 of his 42 service games to remain undefeated at the SAP Open. In the final against Istomin, the Canadian lost a mere four points on serve in his 80 minute victory. Raonic also kept his unblemished tiebreak record in San Jose intact, improving to 8-0.
“I feel amazing. It’s definitely a different feeling from the first time last year. I think I’m more aware and more appreciative of the moment,” Raonic told the crowd in an on-court interview.
Raonic was able to defend his title at San Jose despite being unable to play his final singles match at the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first-round match-up against France the previous weekend. What was originally thought by doctors to be a 4 millimeter tear in Raonic’s left knee following an ultrasound in Vancouver, turned out to be nothing serious once the swelling faded. He was re-examined upon his arrival at the Stanford Medical Center on Monday and the MRI results thankfully allowed doctors to give the fastest rising star in tennis the green light to return to the court after just a few days rest.
All three of Raonic’s ATP titles have come on hard courts and at 250 level events. The next step for the hard serving Canuck, nicknamed the “Maple Leaf Missile”, will be to make deeper runs at bigger tournaments on multiple surfaces where the competition is tougher. Raonic will get the chance to do just that this week in Memphis, an ATP 500 event, where he reached the final last year before falling to Andy Roddick in a hotly contested final that featured one of the shots of 2011 by Roddick on match point.
Raonic is seeded fourth in Memphis this year and finds himself in the same section of the draw as second-seeded Roddick, fifth-seeded Russian Alex Bogomolov Jr. and sixth-seeded Julien Benneteau of France. He will play his first match on Wednesday night against talented Latvian Ernests Gulbis.
Fellow Canadian Rebecca Marino, the reigning Memphis women’s finalist, is back on Tour and will play her first match since the Australian Open against second-seeded Ksenia Pervak of Kazakhstan in the opening round on Tuesday. In addition to Marino and Raonic reaching the singles finals in Memphis in 2011, Daniel Nestor also won the doubles title to complete an impressive Canadian trifecta.

Powerhouse French too much for Short-Handed Canadians

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Photographer: Kyle Clapham
France Defeats Canada in Davis Cup

The anticipation had been building for months following the announcement that Vancouver would host its first Davis Cup tie in 20 years. It also just so happened to be the biggest non-Rogers Cup tennis event to be held on Canadian soil in the last decade.
In the end, the Canada-France first round World Group tie lived up to the hype and delivered on expectations despite Milos Raonic being forced to withdraw from the much-anticipated reverse singles match up with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga because of pain in his knee.
Raonic played and won his singles match on Friday, defeating Julien Benneteau in straight sets, putting forth a virtually flawless performance to give Canada it’s only point of the weekend in a 4-1 defeat. Level at 1-1 after Friday’s singles, Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau substituted the in-form Raonic for Vasek Pospisil to play with Daniel Nestor for the crucial doubles point. In the end, the French pair of Benneteau and Michael Llodra played subliminal doubles to secure the second point for France and Canada was dealt a major blow when it was discovered that Raonic had tweaked his knee during the first set which would ultimately keep him out of Sunday’s reverse singles.
Frank Dancevic replaced Raonic against Tsonga in the first match on Sunday and acquitted himself more than admirably, playing inspired tennis that ignited the boisterous crowd at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Dancevic’s performance, perhaps his best since the former world no. 65 made a surprise run to the quarter-finals o f the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Montreal in 2007, just wasn’t enough against Tsonga who was also at the top of his game, hitting winners from seemingly everywhere on the court. The World no. 6 posted an impressive 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 win to propel France into the Davis Cup quarter-finals where they will play the United States on home soil. Tsonga said he was disappointed to miss out on the chance to play Raonic in this setting.
“For us it was a good surprise,” said Tsonga. “Milos (Raonic) is a good player, talented, and I was a bit sad to play against another guy, because I think it (would have been) a good confrontation with Milos.”
Photographer: Kyle Clapham
Vasek Pospisil & the Canadian Fans

For his part, Dancevic thrived in his return to the Canadian Davis Cup squad and enjoyed every minute of playing in front of vocal, supportive fans.
“I felt the energy out there and I felt like I had a lot of momentum on my side,” Dancevic said. “I felt like anything could happen … and it came down to just a few important shots by him, especially in the second set. He painted the lines on a few forehands, hit some unbelievable down-line and cross-court one-hand backhands.”
Gael Monfils, who did not play Friday’s singles match against Raonic as originally anticipated, and Vasek Pospisil concluded the tie with an entertaining match that wowed the crowd featured more than one highlight reel shot from the always flamboyant Monfils. The Frenchman defeated Pospisil, Canada’s Davis Cup hero in 2011, 6-4, 6-4.
A total of 15,233 spectators attended the tie over the three days and certainly made themselves heard throughout the weekend and showed why Vancouver is the fastest growing tennis city in Canada. The Canadian team left with many lessons learned as they look ahead to their World Group playoff tie in September, but also proved they belonged among the top 16 Davis Cup countries in the world.

Vancouver Stoked to Host Davis Cup Elite

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Team Canada practice session in Vancouver

Two years removed from hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, the city of Vancouver will be all about tennis this week as many of the sport world’s eyes will be focused on the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre, which will host Canada’s biggest Davis Cup tie in the last decade beginning Friday.
Canada will host a powerhouse team from France, which includes Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in their first World Group tie since 2004. This also marks the first time since 1992 that Vancouver will host a Davis Cup tie.
Led by their two young guns, Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil, who played the role of Davis Cup hero last year to give his country this opportunity, Canada will attempt to pull off a huge upset in their first home tie since 2009. For the occasion, Tennis Canada has selected a fast indoor hard court that should help produce a few more aces and winners from the heavy-hitting Canadian racquets.
Not only did the event sell out within an hour, but the organizing committee has pulled out all of the stops to give their squad every advantage as they go after this monumental victory. “Operation Red and White” is encouraging fans to wear their country’s colours regardless of where they will be watching the matches and reinforces that France won’t win, at least “Not On Our Court”.  In addition, the Cactus Club Café in Vancouver is the official Team Canada Headquarters to watch the tie for fans who don’t have a ticket.
The one and only meeting between Canada and France in Davis Cup came way back in 1966 on the clay courts of Roland-Garros with the home side coming away with a dominant 5-0 win. The home team this time around is hoping for a much different result and Raonic and Pospisil will have to play the matches of their lives to make it happen. Not only will France be tough in singles, but they have also brought Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra, two of their doubles specialists to counter Canadian legend Daniel Nestor, who usually guarantees a point when he suits up for the crucial doubles rubber.
“It’s a short time frame compared to the other years, usually we have play in March so we have an extra month to get the match count high enough to feel really good about anybody’s game,” said Team Canada captain Martin Laurendeau. “But, the fact that it’s following a Grand Slam and it’s early in the season has forced the guys to be sharp early in the year and we are playing some good tennis right now.”
The task at hand may be a very difficult one, but there is a reason they play the game and the Canadian underdogs plan on showing their home fans why.

Onwards and Upwards for Maria Sharapova

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Maria Sharapova with her runner-up trophy

Maria Sharapova wasn’t the popular pick to win the Australian Open. In fact, many predicted she would be upset in the first round by Gisela Dulko given that she had not played a competitive match in three months because of a bad ankle sprain and pulled out of Brisbane on account of the same injury issue.
Facing a tough draw from start to finish, Sharapova faced every challenge head on and looked dominant, moving better than ever, serving well and hitting her groundstrokes with purpose, through the early rounds of the tournament. She avoided a quarter-final match up with Serena Williams and in the semis, avenged her loss to Petra Kvitova in the 2010 Wimbledon final to find herself in the championship match for the second time in the last three Majors.
Pitted against first time Grand Slam finalist Victoria Azarenka, the script for Sharapova’s latest title run seemed to point towards her completing one of the most courageous injury comebacks in the history of women’s tennis by adding a fourth Major crown to her resume. However, it was Azarenka who provided the final plot twist, dismantling her opponent in a lopsided match that was very reminiscent of the 2004 Wimbledon final when Sharapova out played Serena Williams in her Grand Slam final debut as a fearless 17-year-old.
Leading up to the 2011 title bout in Melbourne, much of the talk focused on whether Azarenka would be able to handle the magnitude of the occasion playing in her first Grand Slam final while little was mentioned about how Sharapova would deal with her own nerves being so close to something that she has wanted more than anything since starting rehab on her surgically repaired shoulder three years ago. The latter scenario turned out to be the more prominent storyline.
“I had a good first couple of games, and that was about it. Then she was the one that was taking the first ball and hitting it deep and aggressive. I was always the one running around like a rabbit, you know, trying to play catch up all the time,” Sharapova said her post-match press conference. “I think I just kind of, I don’t know, the switch went off.”
The question now is how will Sharapova respond to this wasted opportunity not knowing how many more chances she is going to get to taste Grand Slam glory once again. Knowing Sharapova and her drive to succeed, she will use this performance as a springboard for the rest of her season instead of dwell on what could have been had she not come out so flat at Rod Laver Arena on Saturday night. She handled the loss with dignity and grace, giving a runner-up speech that was as classy as they come.
Sharapova is playing a better, more complete game at this stage in her career as are many of her biggest rivals. The ability to turn defence into offence has become such an important part of the women’s game today which means that Sharapova’s first strike style of tennis can be better neutralized today than when she dominated her sport as a teenager. Her serve and forehand remain a liability, but things are certainly looking up for Sharapova and there is no reason not to believe there is a Grand Slam title in her future.