The Royal LePage Hiller Realty Junior Grand Slam kicked off this past weekend with the Stratford Tennis Club hosting the “Australian Open”. On a beautiful day for tennis, over 30 junior tennis players participated in the event, many making their first tournament appearance. 

The Girls Under 16 event saw Mackenzie Dumais edge Ashley Humphrey 8-6 in the final. This is Dumais’ first title at the Club. Humphrey was the junior girl player of the year in 2014 and had taken the title in her last six tournament, but Dumais proved the steadier player and took the gold medal in an impressive performance. The consolation final was also a close match where Megan Furlong took the title with an 8-6 victory over Beatriz Trillo-Torres.

The Boys Under 14 event was dominated by Michael Vandewiel. Vandewiel cruised through the event including the title match where he scored an 8-1 win over Ethan Misener. The consolation final had Evan Fortin double up Declan Feore 8-4 to take the title.

The Boys Under 16 event was full of close , high calibre matches. The final was the match of the day. After fighting off a match point, Matthew Vandewiel came back to win the championship 8-7 (7 points to 5 in the tie-breaker) over Marcel Lundrigan. Lundrigan lived and died on his serve, hitting several aces and service winners but tossed in too many double faults. Vandewiel proved that steady play can win in the end. The consolation final saw the title go to Evan Moorehead who downed Will Thibeault 8-5.

The second leg of the Royal LePage Hiller Realty, the “French Open” will take place at the Club on Saturday, June 27. 

                                                 Ashley Humphrey (runner up), Mackenzie Dumais (champion)

                                                      Michael Vandewiel (champion)  , Ethan Misener  (runner up)

                                                       Matthew Vandewiel  (champion) , Marcel Lundrigan  (runner up)