The wave of young Canadian tennis talent produced in the past 10 to 15 years or so has been an impressive one.
From Eugenie Bouchard to Milos Raonic, from Felix Auger Aliassime to Bianca Andreescu, there has been no denying that the prevalence of the maple leaf at the top tennis events in the world has clearly been on the rise.
And if Sudbury native Avery Alexander has her way, that wave of success will soon lap up to the shores of Ramsey Lake.
The 13-year-old who was first introduced to the sport during a family six-month “life experience” jaunt to New Zealand a few years ago continues to climb the charts within Tennis Ontario, garnering attention all the way up to the national scene.
That’s quite a meteoric rise for an early teen who first swung a racquet at the age of eight and was taking up the sport competitively a year later, drawing upon the physical fitness base that had been established through a devoted commitment to her dance career in her youth.
“Flexibility and coordination is really an important factor in tennis and I feel like I learned that a lot from dance,” said Avery, who was simply partaking in the after school programs in the south Pacific when her parents realized that she was beating all of her classmates, boys included, with ease.
By the time the Alexander clan returned to Sudbury, there was at least some glimmer of opportunity as the Sudbury Indoor Tennis Centre pushed to try and raise awareness for youth tennis on a local level. “There was another girl my age and we were very competitive with each other, hitting all the time, taking lessons all the time,” said Avery.
Initially, her development could be maintained while still training in the nickel city, access to more experienced players not at all that difficult when one is but 10 or 11 years old.
“I was hitting with the older kids, some of the men, a lot of older people in general,” she said.
All fine – until her path of progression refused to be slowed.
“I think my strokes were fine; I had my technique kind of down by then,” Avery said. “It was just getting better at my ground strokes that would help move me along faster – that and consistency and power. The club players were not enough of a challenge any more.”
Now, given that this coincided with the arrival of COVID-19, the point might have been mute but for the fact that she had a very capable playing mate very close to home.
“As far as COVID goes with tennis, it shut down the indoor clubs but it didn’t stop me from playing outdoors, playing with my dad every day,” said the talkative ball striker who has put herself in great shape already to qualify for Fischer Nationals at both the U14 (Laval, Que., Aug. 28 to Sept. 3) and U16 (Milton, Ontario, Aug. 20-25) classifications.
“I don’t think it (COVID) took too much of an emotional toll on me.”
Soon, however, her father (Mark) would endure the same reality that so many of Avery’s opponents in Northern Ontario had faced. “Dad used to challenge her,” said Mark with a smile.
“We have a cottage near Parry Sound,” Avery chimed in. “Coming back from the cottage, we found a court and I finally won – 6-1. I got a lot more powerful and that took me to the next level.”
Well, that and an incredible willingness on the part of the family to allow the youngster to pursue her dream. This would include a short-term move to Barrie, drawing much closer to the glut of young tennis talent that exists in the GTA. And this past January, Avery would attend the Gomez Tennis Academy in Naples, Florida.
“It’s the first academy I went to so I didn’t change it up this year; I was familiar with it,” she said. “It’s a fairly tight-knit family-based academy and they have a house that kids can stay at.”
All of which positions her well for the next phase of her growth in the sport. While she definitely makes the most of a smaller frame at the moment – “getting low with your legs helps me get a lot more power” – there is no doubt that the anticipated growth spurt (mom is 5-11; dad is 6-2) should allow her to add the muscle mass needed to counter her stronger adversaries.
Throw that into the mix with a competition-based approach that would make many a sports psychologist proud and you have at least a basis of someone whose athletic sojourn is well worth following.
“I feel that when I go into a match, I am always very mentally cool with myself,” said Avery. “I don’t tend to get frustrated with myself. I feel that’s always been an advantage I have had over my opponents. I like having that in my game.”
And should the pressure ever become too much, there’s always that option of simply closing her eyes and listening to the waves of Ramsey Lake, slowly lapping the shoreline – and the home to just one of the many young Canadians looking to follow in the footsteps of an internationally impressive field of talent.
Randy Pascal is a sportswriter in Sudbury. Pursuit is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
