With Brayden Schnur’s runner up finish at the New York Open this past week, Canada now has five men ranked in the top 110. This is a statistic never seen before to my knowledge. I had the pleasure of watching Brayden warm up at the Calgary Tennis Club a couple years back and play the Challenger Tour event here last fall. He has the physique, the strokes and the drive to win. However; I’m a bit concerned about the stress he puts on his front knee during his service motion. He’ll get to contend with the ace machine and ultimate victor of the New York Open, Reilly Opelka, throughout his playing career.

The two young guns Shapovalov and Auger-Alliasime have burst onto the scene demonstrating court prowess atypical of their youth. We’ll see how this pair contends with the rigors of the tour in the face of fully mature men.

Canadian men on the outside looking in are Peter Polansky and Filip Peliwo. Peter seems to have more fire burning than ever before and Filip may be struggling a bit on the mental side of the game as I witnessed in his match here in Calgary last fall.

The ladies are also making waves. I’m sensing some healthy rivalry building in their ranks given some competitive off court exchanges. There are a handful of ladies now in the mix to provide Eugenie with some company. Bianca Andreescu currently outranks Bouchard.

I’d be amiss not to reference the formally developed coaching development program over at Tennis Canada as an obvious resource in propelling Canada upward in the international tennis scene.