Three weeks ago, the McGill tennis team qualified for its first national championship. The tournament will take place in Toronto in August 2013. McGill will compete as a co-ed team, picking up the second of the two qualifying tickets from the Eastern division, along with top-seeded Western University. The teams will face off against two other universities from the Western Division, rounding out the tournament competitors.
The co-ed format was introduced to nationals to allow teams from the Western Division, typically with smaller rosters, to enter the competition.
During the qualifying rounds, the men and women competed separately, in order to qualify for a mixed team of ten players. The University of Montreal lost its qualifying bid to McGill, even though the Carabins were heavily favoured, and have won every national title since the championships’ inception in 2009.
In the semis, the Martlets fell 4-3, but the Redmen prevailed 5-2. McGill therefore finished with a two-point cumulative advantage over the Carabins. Western University dominated the competiton, winning both the men’s and women’s draws.
The amateur tournament will be played alongside the annual professional women’s Rogers Cup at the Rexall Centre.
“As far as I know, it is unique to have a tournament that brings together the best players in the world, at the same time as university players,’’ Head Coach Adrien Dupont explained.
The upcoming nine months before nationals will require unique preparation for McGill. “[Our] next challenge is to maintain the same level of play that we have managed to rise to this semester,” Dupont said.
After losing its varsity status in 2010, the team rebuilt itself around the leadership of Dupont and a core of new players. Dupont became the head coach five years ago, while he was still playing at McGill. The team at that time was still student-run. Two years later, he reintroduced the women’s program, following its dissolution in 2008. In this Fall’s regular season, the women’s squad went undefeated for the first time.
“It is still a very young team, and certainly one of my greatest prides,” Dupont said.
Despite its status as a competitive club, both tennis teams were allowed to play in the same league as the seven other varsity teams from Quebec and Ontario. Now, the club’s development depends on the evolution of the sport in the province—motivation that wasn’t there just a few years ago.
To introduce an independent RSEQ conference, a minimum of four teams is required. However, Dupont hopes to see such a division created by next year. This is particularly important because being part of a provincial-only league is a requirement for a competitive club to be instated as a varsity team at McGill. McGill has scheduled winter exhibition games against Laval, Sherbrooke, and Montreal, with the intention of promoting an independent conference. It would also give McGill an opportunity to prepare for nationals in August.
“Our hope is that the exhibition season will be a success; and if so, we will be in a position to re-engage the discussion with the university [regarding the varsity status for tennis] and the three other programs to try to move forward,” Dupont said.
Currently, the club faces challenges of reduced publicity and university-provided financing. However, these difficulties have not undermined the team’s ability to compete for its first national title.
“Now that we are qualified, our objective is to go get our first title,” Dupont said. “It is definitely a format that gives us the opportunity to have our best men and women represent us.”
