Saville Tennis News, April 2023, Vol 1/4
Everything and everyone are news this month at the Saville, so it seems. The Bears and Pandas tennis teams won the Western Championship to start off the month. The official announcement of our new tennis facility was made to the media on March 7 with a sod-turning “out back” on the site. Our Juniors competed in provincials with a good number qualifying for Nationals. And the Owen Schlosser Memorial fund-raiser and fun team tournament went off without a hitch. Our fearless administrators, Russ, Andrea and Alana have been running corner to corner. See more on these events below, plus click on the Read More buttons below for feature articles on our supercoach Lan Yao-Gallop, our Superfans Tracy Graham and Maureen Assman, the super-tournament at Indian Wells, and super-insight from physio Blair Shular. If you make it to the very end of this email newsletter, you will find “What to Watch For In April.” Happy reading!
Saville’s own tennis professional, Lan Yao-Gallop, has earned her Level 4 coaching certification, and is travelling around the world supporting elite women tennis players for Tennis Canada, the International Tennis Federation (ITF), and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA). This year Lan is working toward her WTA coaching certification (phew!). This week she is shadowing Magda Linette’s coaching team at the Charleston 500 WTA tournament . Read more about Lan’s achievements, her views on trends in tennis player development, her goals for this year, and how and why she does it all.
To read the full article, go to: https://susanwellstennis.wordpress.com/2023/04/02/coach-lan-heading-for-wta-certification-in-2023/
(Photo left: Watson Wang, age 7, and Lan Yao-Gallop at the Saville junior development program)
Nate Jen spoke with Federer Superfans Tracy Graham and Maureen Assman, both long-time Saville members. Find out about the one and only fan featured in the Roger Federer Farewell video, what it was like to be at the Laver Cup for Federer’s farewell tournament, and which pro tournaments these travelling superfans recommend. Read Nate’s full article here.
NOW FOR THE NEWS
NOW FOR THE NEWS
Bears and Pandas Flying Off To Nationals as Western Canadian Champions
Aren’t they somethin’? Pandas and Bears are off to Nationals in August in Montreal and as Western Canadian Champions. The Pandas will compete for their fourth consecutive national title, and the Bears will aim to regain their national title. The March 5 showdown at the Saville vs. the UBC Thunderbirds was spirited, gritty, and high level. While the women dominated, the men muscled their way through a tight finish to join the Pandas as Western Canadian Champions.
From the U. of A. Bears and Pandas website (written by Connor Hood): “The Pandas cruised to victory, earning a 6-1 win over UBC, keeping the dream alive for a fourth-straight university title. The Bears faced a stiffer test, narrowly squeaking past UBC with a 4-3 win. Alberta dropped the doubles point to UBC on the men's side, before winning four of the six singles matches.
“The Alberta women were led by Emma Rutherford, who cruised to victory in both the #1 doubles and #1 singles matches. Rutherford and partner Alex Jewitt picked up an 8-4 doubles win, before Rutherford dominated Madison Fan 6-2, 6-0 in the top singles match. Jewitt, Amrita Shanmugam, Jessica Kreutz, and Sandra Taskovic also won their singles match, who combined to win 8 of their 10 sets played.”
“The Golden Bears were led by 2021 National Tournament MVP Jared Maclean, who was the only Bear to win both his singles and doubles match. Maclean earned an important 6-2, 6-4 win at the #3 singles match after Alberta lost the doubles point. Fifth-year Neel Phaterpekar clinched the win for Alberta with a 7-6, 6-4 win at the #5 singles spot over UBC T-Bird Ryan Picken. Prashant Kumar, and Jackson Baerg also earned singles wins for Alberta.”
Click here for a great photo collection of Bears and Pandas by Steve Kwan
Click here for Don Voaklander photos of Pandas
Cick here for Don Voaklander photos of Bears