Lauren Chypyha and Maya Jovic

State Farm Junior Match of the Day

August 18, 2007 - The State Farm Junior Match of the Day gives Ontario’s talented young tennis players a chance to showcase their skills in front of the large crowds at the Rogers Cup presented by American Express.

Each day, the youngsters battled one another on centre court just before the stars of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour came on for their matches.  While there was no title on the line for these gifted juniors, playing at Rexall Centre provided these players with an opportunity they won’t soon forget.

The following match ups took place throughout the week:

Joshua Malyon vs. Jacob Pollack

Thirteen year old Malyon lives in Port Perry, Ontario, where he first discovered tennis at age 10.  He joined the High Performance Programme at the Campus Tennis Centre, DurhamCollege/ UOIT in Oshawa, Ontario, in the fall of 2004.  Malyon began playing in Ontario Tennis Association tournaments in the fall of 2005 and was thrilled to compete at the Indoor Provincials in London, Ontario, followed by the 2007 Indoor Nationals in Edmonton, Alberta.

Pollack just recently celebrated his 13th birhday. He trains with the Toronto Tennis Academy here in Toronto and has travelled to train and compete abroad with his coach in the United States and Europe during the past few summers. In 2005, Pollack was the winner of the inaugural Rogers Cup Rookie Tour in the U12 category.  He competes regularly around the Toronto area in singles and is ranked in the top 40 for Ontario.  Pollack and his partner are the reigning U14 outdoor doubles champions for Ontario. Besides tennis, he loves math and science and he is speaks both French and English. 

Amanjeet Dhaliwal vs. Sabashan Ragavan

Twelve-year old Dhaliwal began playing Ontario Tennis Association (OTA) tournaments in May 2006. Within two months, he had qualified for the U12 Ontario Provincials, and had risen to No. 10 in the province. In the next five months, Dhaliwal earned several U14 titles and reached No. 11 in the U14 category in January of this year. He calls winning his first U16 tournament two weeks ago the greatest achievement of his career thus far. Currently, he owns a No. 7 ranking in the U14 category, and is being considered for a spot on Team Ontario for the upcoming Nationals.  

Ragavan first started playing tennis at the age of eight at Heron Park Tennis Club, where he met Club pros Tyrone Pereira and mother Marina Pereira. The Pereira’s have been by his side ever since, constantly encouraging him to do his best and set high goals. Included among Ragavan’s career highlights are representing Team Ontario in the boys U14 indoor national championships this April, placing sixth in singles in the boys U14 outdoor provincials this summer, and making the finals of the doubles for the boys U14 outdoor provincials alongside partner Joshua Malyon.

Solomiya Zinko vs. Joan Cannon

Zinko, a Ukraine-born 12-year old, started training in Canada as a member of the Richmond Hill Country Club when he was nine years old. He is currently coached by his mother Alexandra Zinko and Richmond Hill head pro Richard Hernandez. Zinko already has significant experience competing amongst Ontario’s best as well as the best in the nation. He has competed at the U12 and U14 provincial level and the U12 national championships.

Thirteen-year old Cannon was first introduced to tennis in Kingston, Ontario.  Recently, she has moved to Burlington, Ontario, to train full-time at the ACE Tennis Academy under her coach Aref Jallali.  Cannon is an all-round athlete, having played competitive volleyball with the Pegasus Volleyball team out of Kingston and having won the 1500 meter and 800 meter races at her county track meet.  She also won the Best of Fair (Gold Medal) for her project at the 2007 Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Science Fair, and then attended the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Truro, Nova Scotia in May, where she also won several awards.  Last year, Cannon placed third in the Ontario Provincial Girls U12 Singles Tennis Championship and placed first in the doubles championship.

Cheryl Kukkonen vs. Kimberly McCallum

Kukkonen, who is set to begin grade nine at age 14, lives in Richmond Hill and plays at the Richmond Hill Country Club (RHCC) under the tennis director Richard Hernandez. She is currently coached by Hubert Karrasch, who recently held the No. 1 ranking in the world for those over 35 years of age. In 2005, Kukkonen was a doubles finalist at the U12 outdoor provincials, and finished in the top 20 of the outdoor nationals U12. She competed at the U14 level in 2006, finishing among the top 24 at the indoor nationals. Earlier this year, she finished in the top eight at the U14 outdoor provincials and won her flight despite a sprained ankle at the indoor nationals. Kukkonen is currently ranked No. 7 in U14 singles and No. 5 in doubles as she makes the move into the U16 category.

Fourteen-year old McCallum started playing tennis when she was eight years old.  She currently trains with Casey Curtis at the Toronto Cricket Skating & Curling Club in Toronto and is a national level U14 player. 

Eli Brown vs. Roman Trkulja

Brown has been playing tennis since the age of five.  He is presently ranked No. 1 in the Boys U14 and will be competing in the Nationals next week.  He placed third in the Ontario provincials tournament in the singles and he and his partner won the doubles title.  This year he will be devoting more time to his tennis and hopes to compete in the United States as well as Canada.

Thirteen-year old Trkulja has been playing tennis since the age of six and competing in Ontario Tennis Association tournaments since he was eight.  He is now coached by Ernesto Ponce at the Cedar Springs Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub in Burlington, Ontario.  He has been a member of Team Ontario for the last four years and has played in several provincial and national level tournaments since that time.  In 2006 he gained international experience when he competed in the United States at the three biggest international junior tournaments outside of the Grand Slam events.  This year, Trkulja has already won the U14 Ontario outdoor singles championship and the indoor doubles championship, and he will be competing in the U14 outdoor nationals next week.

Mario Albu vs. Iain Sneddon Jr.

Thirteen-year old Albu was born in Toronto, Ontario and started to compete in tennis tournaments two years ago. In the time since, Albu has collected 14 trophies and is now playing at the U14 national level.  He says his favourite tennis players are Switzerland’s Roger Federer and Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo. Albu is looking forward to the future and to achieving his tennis goals.

Sneddon Jr. is from London, Ontario.  He is a member of Team Ontario and will be competing in the Canadian U14 National Tennis Championships commencing next week.  Sneddon Jr. has won several Ontario Tennis Association tournaments, including the Boys U14 Nationals Selection Tournament earlier in May and has competed internationally as a member of Team Canada at the Junior Orange Bowl held in Miami, Florida.  His favourite player is Canada's Frank Dancevic

Maya Jovic vs. Lauren Chypyha

Jovic is 14 years old and was born in Serbia. She started playing tennis at age 11 and started competing in January of last year. She trained at Ace Tennis Academy for two years and was coached by Greg Novak and Pierre Lamarche. Some of her many accomplishments include being a two-time provincial champion in doubles along with Elianne Douglas-Miron, runner-up at the nationals in doubles, and fifth at provincials in singles. Jovic’s idols are Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic, who are both also from Serbia.

Chypyha has been playing tennis since the age of five and now, at 13 years old, is one of Ontario’s top junior players in the U14 category.  She is currently ranked No. 5 in Ontario for girls under 14 years of age and No. 14 in Canada for the same age group. Chypyha is coached by Bill Cowan at the Player’s Edge Academy at the Mayfair Racquet and Fitness Clubs.  Most recently, she was a semi-finalist in the 2007 U14 Ontario provincial championships.

Filip Obuchina vs. Daniel Bednarczyk

Obuchina is one of the brightest young stars Canadian tennis has to offer.  He has already wracked up several titles so far this year while playing in an age group with other boys significantly older than him.  Among his accomplishments are  the indoor Ontario provincial championship in the U14 category at age 11, a Canadian championship title in the U12 age group in both singles and doubles, and a fifth place finish in the national championship in the U14 category.  Obuchina has also gained experience at the international level, including a third place finish at the Open Super 12 in France

Daniel Bednarczyk, Louise Kwong, and Juliana Gajic, also took part in the event, however, bios were not available.

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