Yellowknife Tennis Club hosts final outdoor tournament of 2024

With the outdoor tennis season drawing to a close, the Yellowknife Tennis Club held its final tournament of the year from Sept. 6-8.

Although Yellowknife awakened to smoky skies on Saturday, it was of little concern to the devoted tennis players, said Andrew Morash, who, along with Alberto Valero organized the event held on the McNiven courts.

“I guess everybody was having so much fun, they just pushed through and enjoyed the day,” Morash said, adding that the tournament drew a large number of participants this year.

“All of the players were great. There's a lot of shuffling around of games, especially last minute, and everybody just kind of rolled with it,” he said of the camaraderie among the players.

Overall, it was a great season for tennis and everyone enjoyed their time on the courts, he added.

Jean Tuyishime, president of the Yellowknife Tennis Club, agreed that this year was a good one for the organization, especially when compared to last year's wildfire evacuation that interrupted the season.

“We can say this was a full, complete, good season, and with a great number of participants. We had the men's clinic, we had women’s clinic, and we had the juniors' clinic,” he said of the full range of activities held this year.

The biggest challenge for the club was being surrounded by heavy machinery from the pool construction underway nearby and the resulting disruptions, he said, adding that next year everything should get back to normal around the tennis courts.

While membership at the club markedly increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, Tuyishime said it has now resumed to pre-Covid levels.

Results from the Sept. 6-8 tournament:

Men’s singles:

Winner: Nikolai Sittmann

Runner-up: Stephen Messier

6-0, 6-4

Men’s doubles:

Winners: Karthik Paulraj and Nikolai Sittmann

Runners-up: Alberto Valero and Mo Amirifarsani

6-2, 6-4

Ladies singles:

Winner: Sepi Sohrabi

Runner-up: Anita Ogaa

6-2, 6-4

Ladies doubles:

Winners: Anna Coles and Jenny Hickman

Runners-up: Catherine Boyd and Tami Johnson

6-0, 6-1

Mixed doubles:

Winners: Sepi Sohrabi and Alberto Valero

Runners-up: Anita Ogaa and Alex Godfrey

4-6, 6-4, 10-4

Consolation round:

Men's singles

Winner: Andrew Morash

Runner-up: Eric Chalker

6-1, 6-7, 10-4

Ladies singles:

Winner: Sara Sohrabi

Runner-up: Anneli Jokela

7-5, 6-4

Ladies doubles:

Winners: Catherine Boyd and Tami Johnson

Runner-up: Arijana Haramincic and Sara Minogue

6-2, 4-4 (withdrawal)

Mixed doubles:

Winners: Tami Johnson and Rob Johnson

Runner-Up: Arijana Haramincic and Gord Marinic

Withdrawal