I guess they planned it that way.  Mia Kupres and Coach Carson Bell were together for one last tournament before Mia officially moves to Montreal’s National Training Centre in September.

It was the U18 Outdoor Nationals, August 12-17, in Mississauga.  After five challenging singles matches over six days against Canada’s top players,  Mia won the final against the #1 seed, 6-4, 6-3.  This was a dream ending to the player/coach journey that Mia and Carson have enjoyed over the past seven years, since Mia was 8.

It was also a major accomplishment for an Alberta tennis player to win the highly competitive U18 category.  Alberta’s last U18 national champion was Calgary’s Harrison Scott who won U18 Nationals twice. Now age 22, Harrison has played for the University of Texas tennis team for the past four years.

Photo below:  Mia Kupres, focused, ready.  Photo by Tennis Canada.

Mia is just 15 years old playing in the U18 category.  She also had a very successful year in 2018 when she won both the indoor and outdoor U14 National Championships.

Play By Play

Kupres was the third seed going into the tournament.  She faced both the #1 and #2 seeds on her way through the draw.  Her semi-final against the #2 seed, Corina Spasojevic (age 17 from Ottawa), was her toughest match in terms of the score.  Mia ignited her competitive spirit and won in two tiebreaker sets, 7-6(2), 7-6(6).

In the final, she faced Sarah-Maude Fortin.  Sarah-Maude is a 17-year old from Quebec and a member of the Canadian Junior Fed Cup team in 2018.

“My strategy for the final was to target Sarah-Maude’s backhand using my forehand.  So I set up to hit more inside out forehands.”  (Mia Kupres on her strategy for the final match)

The strategy worked, and Mia won 6-4, 6-3.  For the second straight year and in three different tournaments, she is a national champion.

Alberta’s Alexandra Jewitt Wins the Sportsmanship Award

Alexandra Jewitt was selected as the winner of the sportsmanship award at the U18 Outdoor Nationals.  She progressed through the consolation making it to the fifth round.   Her professional and easy on-court manner must have caught the attention of tournament officials as she was selected from a field of 36 players.  This is another  proud moment for the Alberta tennis community.   Jewitt won the first Alberta Junior Open tournament in February 2019, and in July 2018 she won the Alberta U16 Outdoor Provincials.

Photo below:  Alexandra Jewitt, Tennis Canada photo.

 

What a couple of weeks for Alberta tennis!  The University of Alberta Pandas won the gold at nationals. The Bears won Bronze. Mia Kupres won first place at the U18 Outdoor Nationals, and Alexandra Jewitt won the Sportsmanship award.  Ryan Schroffel (Head Pro Royal Glenora Club) and Carson Bell (Saville Community Sports Centre) won recognition awards from the Tennis Professionals Association/Tennis Canada.  Yes, wow!

Coming up:  The U12, U14 and U16 Nationals are in Ontario and Quebec.  And the Steve Stevens Senior Nationals are about to start in Toronto.  Good luck to all of our competitors!  No pressure!

 

 

 

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