Raonic To Play Gulbis In Round Two At Monte-Carlo Masters

Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON) kicked off his clay court season yesterday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, a prestigious Masters 1000 event on the ATP World Tour. He opened in winning fashion, earning his first career ATP clay court victory.

The 20-year-old Canadian defeated Michael Llodra of France 6-3, 0-6, 6-0 to advance to the second round. The win is already Raonic’s third career victory over the Frenchman, ranked no. 25 in the world, and second this season. On Tuesday, Raonic will face world no. 30 Ernests Gulbis of Latvia. It will be the first meeting between the two players. Gulbis defeated Ukraine’s Alexander Dolgopolov 6-1, 6-4 to reach round two.

Bouchard wins another Challenger event

Last week, Eugenie Bouchard (Westmount, QC) was in Sibernik, Croatia for a $10,000 Challenger tournament and collected her third title of 2011 and second at the pro level. Seeded second in the draw, Bouchard lost just one set en route to the final where she defeated French qualifier Jessica Ginier 6-2, 6-0.

Pelletier and Fichman capture doubles title in Jackson

Marie-Ève Pelletier (Repentigny, QC) and Sharon Fichman (Toronto, ON) were the top-seeded team in doubles at the $25,000 River Hills USTA Pro Circuit Challenger in Jackson, Mississippi last week. The Canadian duo took home the title thanks to a 7-6(1), 7-6(3) triumph over Natalie Piquion of France and Eva Hrdinova of the Czech Republic. The win is Pelletier’s 16th ITF doubles crown of her career and second in as many weeks. Meanwhile, Fichman picks up her eighth career doubles title on the pro circuit.

Week of preparation for Canada’s Fed Cup team

Eugenie Bouchard (Westmount, QC), Stéphanie Dubois (Laval, QC), Sharon Fichman (Toronto, ON) and Rebecca Marino (Vancouver, BC) are in Koper, Slovenia preparing for Canda’s upcoming World Group II Fed Cup by BNP Paribas playoff tie against Slovenia this weekend. The girls will spend the next several days refining their clay court games before the matches start on Saturday. The draw will be held on Friday. On the men’s side, Philip Bester (Vancouver, BC), Frank Dancevic (Niagara Falls, ON), Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (Saint Foy, QC) and Vasek Pospisil (Vancouver, BC) are in Tallahassee, Florida this week to compete in a $50,000 Challenger.

Rogers Junior Nationals wrap up

The U14 and U18 Rogers Junior National Championship finals were held over the weekend. In Vancouver at the U14 event, Ontario’s Charlotte Petrick and Alejandro Tabilo were crowned champions. Meanwhile, in Markham, Ontario, two members of Tennis Canada’s NTC program, Françoise Abanda (Montreal, QC) and Filip Peliwo (Vancouver, BC), took home top honours at the U18 tournament.

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BNP Paribas Open’s “Rally, Round-Up & Recycle”

Title sponsor, BNP Paribas and reBounces will once again partner to collect used tennis balls on-site during the two weekends of the tournament (March 10-11 and March 17-18). Patrons who bring at least six used tennis balls will be offered a free can of tennis balls.