Announce individual and team Excellence Award winners  

Tennis Canada is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2008 Excellence Awards for seniors. These awards serve as an annual recognition of excellence in Canadian tennis on the senior circuit. The awards are divided into two categories which acknowledge accomplishments made both individually and as part of a team.

In the individual category, Jean-Guy Sauve and Claude Servant were recognized for their impressive performance at the World Senior Championships in Turkey where they captured the men’s over 40 doubles championship. The pair, seeded third, earned themselves the title with a 6-3, 6-1 win over No.2 seeds Christoph Schaal of Germany and Bart Theelen of the Netherlands. Sauve and Servant, both from Quebec, did not drop a set throughout the entire doubles competition and produced Canada’s only first-place finish at the World Championships.

Multiple world champion Lorne Main was acknowledged for his finalist appearance in the men’s 75 singles competition. Main fell just short of his record 12th World Individual singles title when he was defeated by No.2 seed Henri Crutchet of France, who staged an impressive second set comeback to take the crown 6-4, 7-5. Main had won the title for the last three years.

On the women’s side, Muffie Grieve was commended for her silver medal in the 75 age category.  After an incredible upset over defending champion and world No.1 American Mary Boswell in the semifinals, Grieve, seeded third, fell short against No.2 seed Margaret Robinson of Australia.

In the team awards category, the female recipients are Rosemarie Asch, Huguette Fontaine, Grieve and Sandra Sutton. Together, this talented foursome earned a silver medal in the 75 age category at the Queen’s Cup, part of the Super-Senior Team competition. Canada was defeated 2-1 by the USA. The male recipients are Les Bourne, Pierre Descoteaux, Main and Ken Sinclair, who claimed the silver medal in the Bitsy Grant Cup in the 75 age category. The top-seeded Canadians and three-time defending champions were also upset by the USA.

The Excellence Awards will be presented at the Senior Nationals in August.