In Canada, 6.5 million people play tennis. The Canadian Open is a major tournament that is held in the country every single year and draws fans from around the world. With tennis being such an integral part of Canada’s subculture, it’s safe to say that some of the best tennis stars to ever grace the sport have come out of the country. Some of them can be found below.
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Milos Raonic
Milos Raonic won the Brisbane International Trophy in 2016. He’s also classed as being the highest-ever ranked tennis player from Canada, within the singles category. He’s been a very consistent performer at the ATP and he’s won over $17.5 million in prize money.
As a dominant server, he’s won 91% of the service games throughout his career. Players like Raonic have helped to make tennis very popular in Canada, and even though most tennis games are played internationally, Canadian sportsbooks give residents the chance to bet on games, even if they aren’t televised in the country. To get the best odds, viewers should research the best sportsbook Canada before creating an account. Most popular sportsbooks offer the chance to bet on not only the outcome of the match but also who is going to win the set. This can provide an interesting experience, especially when more dominant players such as Raonic take to the court.
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Mike Belkin
Mike Belkin was one of the earliest tennis players to make his mark on the sport. He had a 14-year career which began in 1961 and has been rated as one of the top-rated players in Canada ever since. He was most confident at the baseline as he had very powerful groundstrokes. He also added a lot more volley to his serve as his career progressed. The best performance of his career happened at the Australian Open in 1968. He made the quarterfinals that year but then lost out to the top seed, who at the time, was William Bowrey. Belkin has logged wins against Jimmy Connors, Jan Kodes and Roscoe Tanner.
Eugenie Bouchard
Eugenie Bouchard, who is a native of Montreal, went professional in 2009. She soon managed to solidify her legacy as one of the best female tennis players, and she has also managed to reach the World No. 5 ranking. A major moment in her career was when she reached the finals at Wimbledon in 2014. She was the first player from Canada to do so, during a Grand Slam tournament. In that same year, she also reached the semifinals in the French Open as well as the Australian Open. After years of notable achievements and winning games against some of the highest-ranked tennis players in the league, she has made her mark on the sport and shown that with a bit of drive and tenacity, great things can be achieved.
With tennis rapidly growing in Canada, more Canadian athletes could well be rising among the ranks, which could provide some interesting matches at future tournaments.
