Top 8 Canadian tennis players of all time
Canada, unlike its neighbor the United States of America, hasn't enjoyed much success in tennis. But the present generation of Canadian tennis players offer a lot of hope.
In the last four years, Canadian players have made the semis, finals or won Grand Slam trophies across the singles, doubles and mixed doubles categories.
The most prominent tennis tournament in Canada is the Canadian Masters or 'The Rogers Cup' - a joint men's and women's competition which attracts the best tennis talent from around the world. For men, it is classified as a Masters 1000 event under the aegis of the ATP and for women it is classified as a Premier 5 Tournament under the aegis of the WTA.
Every year, the venue switches between Montreal and Toronto. If one year the tournament for men is held in Toronto, then Montreal will host the event for women. The next year, the order is reversed.
Tennis has a long way to go in Canada before catching up with more popular sports like ice hockey and lacrosse. But there have still been a few notable players from the country over the years.
Here, we take a look at eight of the greatest tennis athletes from Canada:
#8 Mike Belkin
One of the earliest tennis players from Canada to make a mark in the sport was Mike Belkin. During his 14-year career which started in 1961, Belkin was the top-ranked player from Canada for five consecutive years - between 1966 and 1972.
A player more suited to sticking to the baseline with his powerful groundstrokes, he added serve and volley to his repertoire later in his career.
Belkin's best performance at Grand Slam level came at the 1968 Australian Open (the first to be held in the Open Era). He made the quarterfinals that year, losing to top seed William Bowrey.
Belkin logged wins against top-ranked players like Roscoe Tanner, Jan Kodes and Jimmy Connors over the course of his career.