Unlike their neighbors, the USA, Canada hasn’t really been a serious force to reckon with when it comes tennis. Having said that, there are some upcoming Canadian tennis talents that could really put this country on the map as far as tennis success is concerned.
Tennis is gaining popularity and more viewership in recent years in Canada, but it still has a long way to go to catch up to the likes of sports like ice hockey and lacrosse.
Thanks to this new generation of players, tennis is on the rise. The likes of Bianca Andreescu, who won the US Open in 2019, Denis Shapovalov, who is the current world number 15 in the men’s rankings and Felix Auger-Aliassime, an upcoming star who jumped into the top 25 of the rankings have all elevated Canada in the tennis map but there have been a few others too.
Here we will take a look at some of Canada’s top tennis players from the recent past
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Nestor isn’t just one of the top tennis players from Canada, but is one of the top tennis players period. Nestor is arguably one of the best doubles players that the game has ever seen. Nestor played professionally for over two decades and bagged over a thousand victories during that tenure. While he is mentioned here because he is truly one of Canada’s best, he is not someone you can keep an eye out for since he is now retired.
Nestor has an incredible 91 doubles titles to his credit and is second only to the Bryan twins. He holds the record for the first even tennis player to have won every single Grand Slam and Masters Series event, the ATP Finals Championships and the Olympic Gold at least one time. He is also the record holder for having won titles in the highest number of countries than any other player thus far.
Milos Raonic
Raonic has really brought a lot of honors to his country in the competitive tennis world, specifically in the singles category. In fact, at one point in November of 2016, Raonic was ranked third in the world. As far as the singles category is concerned, he is arguably the best ever tennis player Canada has ever produced.
Raonic is known for his relentless serves which is really his forte and has won a staggering 91% of the service games in his career. One of the high points in his career is undoubtedly when he handed Roger Federer a defeat in the Wimbledon Championships of 2016 in the Semi Final. He progressed to the final, but was unable to triumph against Andy Murray.
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Eugenie Bouchard
Bouchard has a huge fan base, not just because she is one of Canada’s best female players, but her good looks and bubbly personality certainly has something to do with it too.
Her career – best ranking came in 2014 when she was ranked world number 5, and just the year prior, she had won the Newcomer of the Year Award. Another award she has to her name came in 2014 when she won the WTA Most Improved Player of the Year.
The last couple of years have seen her form and numbers go south, but at 25, she is still young and has many more years of top shelf tennis left in her. She will be hungry to get back to her 2014 form and winning ways in the upcoming season.
Sebastian Lareau
Lareau is know for being Canada’s first ever tennis player to have won a Grand Slam title across any category. This came in 1999 in the US Open in the doubles category when he was partnered up with Alex O’ Brien. The final was against India pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati.
Another career highlight of his came in the year 2000 when he won the gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games when he paired up with fellow Canadian Daniel Nestor.
Throughout his career, Lareau has clinched a total of 17 ATP doubles titles and 4 masters series titles. Like his partner Nestor, Lareau too is retired and has made way for upcoming Canadian youth tennis players to take the stage and spotlight.
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