CANMORE – Trophies were passed around this weekend after two tennis players were crowned champions during a singles tournament hosted by the Canmore Tennis Association.
Gail Quinn, who’s one of the board directors, was being entertained in the crowd as she said the matches were better than many professional matches she’s seen on TV.
“From an audience perspective or fans perspective, it was amazing. It was better than many TV matches,” said Quinn.
Quinn was also excited to have the first tournament of the new Lions Park courts as they are official-sized courts with an added shaded area for spectators.
“The four new courts are absolutely gorgeous. Having the shade structure there is great for people to watch. Honestly, we couldn’t be happier,” said Quinn.
Coming off hip surgery last year, Ewen Clark pushed through to the end to secure himself a trophy in the men’s championship match.
“I think that [the hip surgery] was definitely a bit of an issue and Colin is, like really, really quick and he didn’t seem to be slowing down or getting tired. So, I definitely felt like my time was running out a little bit.”
Clark started the finals match against Colin McKinlay with a 7-5 win in the first set followed by a 6-7 loss in the second, but he was able to pull through with the nail-biting 7-6 victory in the third and final set.
Although Clark took home the win, he said the tiebreak could have gone either way as every time he has played McKinlay it has always been a tight match.
“I just hit a couple of big serves and managed to get level and then from that point on we kind of went back to being super close and super level and it could have gone either way right up until the end,” said Clark.
“It’s always super fun playing against Colin and I’m sure we will continue to have a good rivalry in the club for years to come.”
Rebecca Holeczi, winner of the women’s category, lost her first set 3-6 against Paula Remple but was ultimately able to pull out with back-to-back 6-1 wins that secured her the trophy.
Holeczi also won in a 2010 Canmore singles tournament, but she was nervous going into this year as she said it’s been a while since she's played.
“I was just nervous going in and doing some competition. It’s been a long time since I’ve done that. But it was super fun,” said Holeczi.
She said the tournament was more about the tennis community for her rather than winning as she commends the social aspect.
“Everyone’s there for the tennis and for the social, and then there’s a potluck at the end. And honestly, it’s more about that for me than winning a tournament,” said Holeczi, who also plans on attending the upcoming doubles tournament on Sept. 8-10.
Ann Shannon also took home a trophy in the women’s consolation category by winning in just two sets, the first set was 7-6 followed by the final set ending 7-5.
