Sandra Sutton has served up two Canadian ladies singles tennis titles and three doubles crowns, all at the senior level.
She's represented Canada on the international court more than 10 times.
In 1997, she finished in the top-eight at the world championships.
In 2009, Sutton, 82, who's lived in Prince George since 1990, received the Tennis Canada Excellence Award.
The accolades are impressive.
On May 6, she'll visit southern Ontario where she'll be inducted into the St. Catharines Sports Hall of Fame.
"I would have never imagined myself in the Hall of Fame," said Sutton on Saturday at her home courts at the the Prince George Tennis Club. "I just did it because I wanted to. What's so great about it is I never had a professional lesson until my daughter gave one to me [with a tennis pro] when I was 69."
Sutton grew up in Montral where her first love was track and field. In summers, she trained with the Mercury Athletic Club at the hallowed Montral Forum under coach Myrtle Cook-Gowan, who won gold in the women's 100-metre relay for Canada at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam.
Sutton finished second in the long jump at the 1948 Olympic Trials and has raced against some of the world's best sprinters.
She lived in St. Catharines between 1961 - 1981 where she played badminton and squash.
While she picked up a tennis racquet on the clay courts in Montral, she excelled on them in St. Catharines, winning numerous club, regional and provincial titles in ladies singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
Sutton maintained her dominance on the court after moving with her husband to Prince Rupert in 1981 where they lived for 10 years.
She was ranked second in Canada Over 50 Ladies Singles in 1983. She won numerous titles in Canadian over 50 doubles championships.
In Canada, the senior level is considered 35-and-over.
And after relocating to Prince George in 1990, where she now calls home, she continued to excel nationally and internationally.
At the 1997 World Championships in Barcelona, Sutton was ranked No. 8 in her age group and finished in the top-eight.
She was the lone Canadian who competed at the invitational Friendship Cup in 2007 in Portschach, Austria, a tournament for players 75-years-old and older.
And she did it all while playing outdoors at the P.G. Tennis Club where the outdoor courts are only available for five or six months of the year.
"In Prince George, I was still very lucky," she said. "There were two men I played with consistently and we'd spend two hours a day on the court, we had to play that much. It costs a lot of money to travel around to get on the Canadian team, especially living here."
She said the secret to her success was and still is cross-training, "to develop all the muscles." Her background in track helped with conditioning. Cycling also helped she continues to walk to stay in shape.
As for the Hall of Fame recognition Sutton will receive next week, it still astounds her.
"In my era, women athletes weren't recognized for our accomplishments. I had to go and compete on vacation time," she said. "It was a lot of hard work, it wasn't easy, I just did it. There weren't always good results, I learned from my losses."
Today, she still frequents the hardcourts at P.G. Tennis Club, but it's more on a recreational level for the love of the game.
"I never officially retired," she said. "I still play when I can."
