Canadian tennis stars see opportunity to grow game at home as Laver Cup comes to Vancouver
City is hosting Laver Cup from Sept. 22-24
Aria Seslija, 12, had never played tennis before picking up a racket at UBC's Tennis Centre this week.
But she was happy to showcase some new skills she picked up from a visiting coach, such as how to successfully return a ball over the net.
"Roger taught me ... I can't remember his last name," she said.
It was Roger Federer, one of the most decorated tennis players in history.
The Swiss player was in Vancouver ahead of the Laver Cup, where he is being honoured after retiring from the professional circuit last year.
The Laver Cup matches start Friday and run through Sunday, but Federer was eager to visit Vancouver in advance, remarking that despite traveling around the world he'd never made it to Canada's west coast before, and telling reporters he hoped to see an orca.
First, though, he was at UBC for a surprise event on Tuesday coaching kids involved with the local Big Brothers and Big Sisters program.
"For me to see a happy face on a child ... that is the best thing," Federer said of his motivation to be involved with youth and mentorship programs.
"To help them go and do sports or go read a book, giving back feels great."
As for Seslija, her time with "Roger" has inspired her to stick with the sport.
"I think I'm going to keep trying," she said. "This is my first time, why not?"
Opportunity to grow the game
The Laver Cup is an annual three-day competition that pits six of the top men's tennis player from Europe against an international team of six over the course of three days.
For Canadian tennis players on Team World, having a major tournament come to Vancouver offers the opportunity to grow the game at a grassroots level.
"It's not a city, like Montreal or Toronto, where they're hosting a massive tennis tournament every year," said Felix Auger-Aliassime in a media availability ahead of the competition.
"The last few years, there's [been] kind of a buzz about Canadian tennis overall and I think it's nice to bring this kind of event here and have all these great players play in Vancouver."
Auger-Aliassime is a member of Team World at the tournament, which gets underway on Friday, while Milos Raonic is serving as an alternate in case of injuries.
Raonic last played in Vancouver in 2012 as part of the Davis Cup at the UBC, and he said the city getting a chance to host a large international tournament shows the evolution of tennis in the country.
"I think it's a big deal," he said. "The last time I played here was the Davis Cup at UBC in front of 2,500 people. The fact it would be considered for such an international event to think Vancouver is a spot that should do it says a lot about Canadian tennis and the passion for tennis across Canada."
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Raonic excited to be back in the game
Raonic has struggled with injuries the past few seasons and has flirted with retirement, but said he's happy to be involved with Team World.
"Being two years away from tennis is a long time and to be back is a lot of fun," he said.
Auger-Aliassime will take on France's Gael Monfils in the third match of the tournament on Friday.
"It was three years ago when I played him, he was the quickest player I had ever played against," Auger-Aliassime said of his opponent. "His defensive skill and his court coverage was something I had never seen before.
"That's, of course, his big quality. Still today, at his age and the later stage of his career, his court coverage and just how he's able to make you play that extra ball and force you to make a mistake or force you a little bit, he's won a lot of matches doing that."
Monfils, 37, said he's looking forward to playing against someone he's known for a while.
"It's going to be fun. I've known Felix for a long time, so it's going to be cool," Monfils said.
Europe looks for redemption
Members of Team Europe at the Laver Cup said they're looking for redemption after losing the tournament for the first time last year.
Team Europe has won four of five iterations of the competition, losing last year in London which also marked Swiss icon Roger Federer's last competitive game.
Captain Bjorn Borg said he and his players hate losing, and last year's failure has stuck with them.
The Swedish former tennis great said he and vice-captain Thomas Enqvist are coaching like-minded players who will push to retake the tournament crown.
"We have six great players here. They're very competitive. Even me and Thomas, we hate to lose, we love to win. it's the same with these guys," he said.
The competition kicks off on Friday with France's Arthur Fils taking on American Ben Shelton.
It will be Fils' first appearance at a Laver Cup, and the Frenchman was a late addition to replace world No. 5 Stefanos
Tsitsipas of Greece who pulled out due to injury.
The 19-year-old Fils, who is ranked 44th in the world, said he hopes his Laver Cup debut goes better than his Davis Cup debut, which ended in a loss to Britain's Dan Evans 3-6 6-3 6-4.
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With files from Sophie Woodroofe and the Canadian Press