A welcome message from Michael S. Downey, President & Chief Executive Officer
To the members of the media,
I would like to thank you for your interest in Canadian tennis and for all the work you do to cover our sport.
Over the past decade, Canadian tennis has progressed by leaps and bounds, as we witnessed so many firsts on and off the court. It is unquestionable that we owe the rise in popularity to the results our players have achieved on the world stage, as well as to your efforts, since you are the link between the athletes and fans.
It goes without saying that Canadian tennis has entered into a flourishing era, and my mission is to work with our teams to build on our opportunities and this momentum to make Canada one of the most dominant tennis nations. At Tennis Canada, we truly believe that inspiration is powerful enough to create a constant increase in tennis participation and interest in our sport. The recent successes of Bianca Andreescu, Denis Shapovalov, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Gabriela Dabrowski, Leylah Fernandez, Milos Raonic, Eugenie Bouchard, Vasek Pospisil and all our other players have been a source of inspiration for Canadians, who want to follow in the players’ footsteps, support them and be just like them.
The pandemic certainly slowed our efforts, and it is fair to say that the financial impacts of COVID-19 and the provincial restrictions limited access to the sport and substantially reduced our means to relaunch our activities and tournaments. Many young Canadian talents were not able to compete for 18 months and our regional programs for juniors were put on hold, considerably undermining player development.
In 2022, as we emerge from two particularly challenging years, Tennis Canada is finally seeing the light on the horizon that will help us better support all levels of development, from recreational tennis to elite, national competition, coach training, programs for beginners and local initiatives.
In our virtual media centre, you will find all the information on the projects we are leading and which, we hope, will enable us to pursue our primary mission to grow the game of tennis from coast to coast to coast.
I would like to thank you once again for your support. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with me if you want to learn more.
Sincerely,
Michael
Michael S. Downey
President & Chief Executive Officer