Drake and Jodoin Capture Tevlin Challenger Doubles Title
November 20, 2009Singles semifinals to be Web cast live on Saturday For the third straight year, an all-Canadian team has captured the $50,000 Tevlin Challenger doubles title as Maureen Drake (Toronto) and Marianne Jodoin (Varennes, Quebec) defeated Sharon Fichman (Toronto) and Mashona Washington (USA) in the final when Fichman was forced to retire up 3-2 in the first set.
After capturing the $50,000 Goldwater Classic in Phoenix last week, Fichman and Washington entered Toronto on top of their game. They continued their hot streak, not dropping a set through to the final; however, a fall early in the match saw Fichman roll over on her ankle. She tried to carry on but was unable to finish, handing Jodoin and Drake the title.
It is the first ITF pro circuit doubles title for Jodoin, a participant at the full-time National Training Centre (NTC) in Montreal, and a very welcome surprise for 38-year-old doubles specialist Drake.
“Our pairing was very last minute,” said Drake. “I wasn’t planning on playing doubles but we decided about half an hour before the sign-in to play and it all worked out. It’s bittersweet because you never want to win this way, but a win is a win. We had great chemistry and energy from the start of the week which is what you need to be a good doubles team so it was a lot of fun.”
In 2008, Marie-Eve Pelletier (Repentigny, Quebec) and Stephanie Dubois (Laval, Quebec) were the Tevlin Challenger doubles champions while Fichman captured the trophy with Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa) in 2007.
In singles, top-seed Dubois moved into the semifinals after starting slow in her quarter-final match against Washington. After falling 4-6 in the first set, Dubois battled back to finish the match 7-5, 6-1. She will take on Italy’s Camila Giorgi in the first of Saturday’s semifinals. Giorgi played one of the closest matches of the tournament against Alexandra Stevenson in the quarters. The two big-serving players fought for nearly three hours before Giorgi claimed the victory, 6-4, 6-7(1), 7-6(2).
The second semifinal match-up is set to feature No. 4 seed Fichman versus Hungary’s Aniko Kapros. Fichman defeated fellow Canadian Pelletier (Repentigny, Quebec) on Friday in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 while Kapros was also dominant against American Lindsay Lee-Waters winning 6-2, 6-2.
Championship weekend at the Tevlin Challenger will be Web cast live via tenniscanada.com beginning with semifinal action on Saturday at 11 a.m., followed by the singles final live on Sunday at 1 p.m. The Tevlin Challenger is taking place at the Tennis Canada Centre of Excellence, the indoor facility located beside the world-class Rexall Centre in Toronto. Admission is free.