Masters Update: Canadians Clean Up in Calgary

The ITF Masters tour hands out more trophies than any other tour and so far a few have ended up in Canadian hands, including a whole bunch at home in Calgary. 

March was also a particularly strong month, as the Canadians struck gold at the ITF World Championships. 

Let’s catch up with Canada’s most experienced tennis players competing on the ITF Masters Tour. 

MT Calgary 

Calgary played host to the first ITF Masters event of the year on Canadian soil at the Yonex Calgary ITF Masters Championship from Feb. 16 to 19. 

There were fifteen draws being contested at the event divided by age, gender, and discipline. All but one was won by a Canadian, that being the 30+ plus men’s singles. Two of the men’s doubles draws saw a Canadian win with a foreign partner. 

Read also: Canadians Come Close at World Team Cup Qualifying

Three Canadians were victorious in both singles and doubles in their age groups: Lan Yao-Gallop (women’s 40+), Scott Gerrity (men’s 60+), and Brenda Brown (women’s 60+).

Here is the full list of winners (all Canadian unless otherwise noted): 

The next Canadian event on the ITF Masters Tour is taking place the first week of April in Vancouver, the MT700 Vanlawn Open. 

ITF World Championships 

Team Canada saw success during the ITF Team and Individual World Championships last month in Antalya, Turkey. 

In the team event, Canada’s M75 squad claimed the gold medal, defeating Italy in the final. The Canadians also picked up a silver medal in the M70 event. 

A week later in the individual championships, Canada’s Chris Burr and Tim Griffin, who were a part of the gold-medal winning team the week prior, took home gold in the men’s 75+ doubles event. Griffin also won silver in the singles. 

ITF Tour 

So far in 2024, three Canadians have won titles on the ITF Masters Tour. 

George Virch is the lone Canadian to have won a singles title, emerging victorious at the MT400 event in Malaga, Spain. The top-seeded Canadian only dropped one set, that being the first set of the final in a tiebreak, on his way to the title. 

It was the third ITF Masters singles title of Virch’s career and first since 2018. 

Vandan Mehta has claimed two titles so far in 2024, striking twice in two different age categories at the MT100 event in Vadodara, India. 

Read also: Canadian Junior Queens of Norway

Mehta won the 30+ doubles event with local Ajay Sodhatar, winning three of the four sets they played 6-0 and dropping just three total games in the tournament. He teamed up with another Mehta, Darshan Mehta of India, to win the 35+ doubles, only needing to contest one match after getting a bye and then a walkover in the semis. 

Read also: Shapovalov – 2024 Edition

Back in January in Mexico, Canada’s Stephen Taylor teamed up with local Armando Trigo Tapia to win the 60+ men’s doubles title, edging out an all-Mexican pair 11-9 in the match tiebreaker in the final. 

Here is the full list of Canadians who have reached finals on the ITF Tour (excluding Calgary) so far in 2024 (Titles in bold):   

• Vandan Mehta: MT100 Vadodara 30+ Doubles Champion, MT100 Vadodara 35+ Doubles Champion  
• George Virch: MT400 Malaga 45+ Singles Champion 
• Stephen Taylor: MT100 Cuernavaca, Morelos 60+ Doubles Champion 
• Camille Vautour: MT400 Malaga Doubles Runner-Up 
• Flavio Grullero: MT400 Malaga 65+ Doubles Runner-Up 
• Gilbert A. White: MT200 Antalya 55+ Doubles Runner-Up 
• Chris Shay: MT200 Marbella 60+ Doubles Runner-Up 
• Eunice Yi Kuen Ng: MT200 55+ Singles Runner-Up