The emergence of Canada as a major player on the world tennis stage the past decade is undeniable.
Never before in the country's 149-year history have Canadians been so prominent as contenders in the big leagues of tennis.
The results from Wimbledon speak for themselves. Two weeks ago, Milos Raonic made history as the first Canadian man to reach the singles final. Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, ranked 98th in the world in singles, teamed up with American Jack Sock to reach the third round in men's doubles.
Denis Shapovilov of Richmond Hill, Ont., 17, was crowned junior men's champion and was runner-up in boys doubles with 15-year-old Flix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, the singles runner-up at the French Open.
In December, Shapovilov, Auger-Aliassime and 17-year-old Benjamin Sigouin of Vancouver, a French Open quarterfinalist, won Canada's first-ever junior Davis Cup championship. All three rank top-15 in the world among under-18 players. No other country has that many junior men in the top 20.
There's also plenty of cause for optimism among Canada's female players. Bianca Andreescu, 16, of Mississauga, Ont., is ranked eighth in the world junior girls and advanced to the third round at Wimbledon. Charlotte Robillard-Millette of Montreal, 17, is the 57th-ranked junior girl. Canada's junior girls team of Andreescu, Robillard-Millette and 17-year-old Torontonian Vanessa Wong won bronze at the Junior Fed Cup.
It takes big money to develop elite tennis players and Tennis Canada has increased its annual spending on development programs substantially over the past 15 years from $3.5 million to nearly $13 million. The results have been showing.
Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard are both products of the national training centre, based in Montreal under head coach Louis Borfiga, who while living in France taught the likes of Sbastien Grosjean, Ga'l Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Elite pro events like the two Rogers Cup tournaments provide more than 80 per cent of Tennis Canada's revenues. The Montreal centre takes in 10 or 12 athletes a year and provides them with billet homes. Other rising stars in the sport are sent to regional training centres in Vancouver and Toronto.
"It's the best time ever to be a Canadian tennis player," said Kristian Kiland, Prince George's top male tennis player. "People always talk about Bouchard and Raonic, but I think the biggest thing is our junior program with Tennis Canada, it's just so amazing. The coolest thing to me was our juniors won the Davis Cup."
Canada's top professionals have been around long enough that it's no longer a shock to see them hanging around in the late rounds. Bouchard has struggled since advancing to the Wimbledon final in 2014 but still ranks 40th in the world. She was a semifinalist in 2014 at the Australian Open and French Open and won the 2012 Wimbledon girls singles title. The 22-year-old from Westmount, Que., says she will compete at the Olympics in Rio.
Daniel Nestor, 43, of Toronto, has for decades been one of the most prominent names on the world men's doubles stage and last week he was added to the Olympic team. He teamed up with Sebastien Lareau to win gold at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Nestor, ranked 11th as a doubles player, has won more than 1,000 doubles matches in his ATP career, including eight Grand Slam titles.
On the pro tours, a handful of Canadian men are currently ranked in the world's top-300, including: Philip Bester, 27, North Vancouver, raked 174th; Steven Diez, 25, Etobicoke, Ont., ranked 190th; Frank Dancevic, 31, Niagara Falls, ranked 245th; and Peter Polansky, 28, North York, Ont., ranked 260th. Vancouver-born Fillip Peliwo, now 22, won the 2012 Wimbledon boys singles title and followed that up with his second Grand Slam title as U.S. Open champion. He's now ranked 473rd in men's singles.
