Naming six current tennis professionals isn't that difficult for most Canadian sports fans. You start with Nadal, then Federer, Andy Murray, Venus and Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova. For a bonus point, most could come up with Novak Djokovic.
An avid Canadian court fan might even throw out the names of long-time Toronto star Daniel Nestor and our country's current top-ranked player, Milos Raonic.
OK smarty pants. Here's the next part of the quiz: Name Canada's two Wimbledon champs from 2012.
Huh?
It's not a trick question. Filip Peliwo of Vancouver and Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., won junior Wimbledon championships in London this past summer and both are planning to start playing for pay as early as next year.
Canadian tennis is on the rise!
The victories at the All-England Club by the two 18-year-olds mark the first time that players from Canada have won the world's most prestigious junior tournaments. But to long-time tennis watchers, the triumphs weren't that big a surprise.
Tennis Canada's Louis Borfiga was brought to this country from France for the express purpose of developing junior tennis stars. Borfiga is vice-president of TC's high performance athletic development and when he arrived, he was troubled by discovering that Canada's best young players were "playing to play, not playing to win," according to Sportsnet Magazine.
The success of Peliwo and Bouchard show that Borfiga's efforts are paying off. The two work out at daily the National Training Centre in Montreal for about 10 hours, including more than six hours on the court.
Said Borfiga to Dave Zarum of Sportsnet Magazine: "Before, there was no system; everybody was training all over the place. My first goal was to regroup the best players in the same place with the same coaches."
The grouping strategy is obviously paying dividends. Peliwo, ranked No. 1 in the world in junior boys, and Bouchard, now No. 2 among the world's female set, could perhaps be the world's next Nadal and Sharapova.
Why not?, says Borfiga.
"It's a change in mentality," the tennis guru told Zarum. "That's the point we're trying to make: Why not Canada?"
Comedy writer Jim Barach: "Michael Vick says he is a dog owner again. In fact, he just took the dog along on a shopping trip to help Plaxico Burress buy a new gun."
R.J. Currie of sportsdeke.com: "To protect a giraffe from getting injured during a move, Chinese trainers taught her to duck. They're still working on Bombers' quarterback Buck Pierce."
David Letterman of CBS: "Here's a sign that it's autumn in New York: Alex Rodriguez striking out with the bases loaded."
Headline at SportsPickle.com: "A-Rod exceeds fan expectations by fouling off pitch."
Janice Hough of LeftCoastSportsBabe.com, after San Francisco won a playoff game despite batting three for 32: "Normally when a team wins with as little offense as the Giants displayed tonight, penalty kicks are involved."
College football guru Beano Cook, who died in mid-October at 81, on his fear of flying: "You only have to bat a thousand in two things - flying and heart transplants. Everything else, you can go 4 for 5."
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, recounting one of his favourite Beano Cook stories: "When former baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn gave the 52 released Iran hostages lifetime passes to Major League Baseball, Beano, an ardent football fan who hated the slow pace of baseball, cracked "Haven't they suffered enough?"
Among the top 10 things you don't expect to hear from a pro football player, from Letterman:
- "Stop pushing.
- "Grass stains - ewww.
- "No steroids for me, thanks.
- "I want to play for the Jets."
Greg Cote of The Miami Herald, after the Dolphins released Legedu Naanee: "The only receiver in the NFL with more vowels than catches."
Brad Dickson of the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, on beach volleyball star Kerri Walsh Jennings competing while pregnant at the Olympics: "This marks the first time an athlete who brought home gold was eating for two since Charles Barkley was on the Dream Team."
Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, after tempestuous ex-slugger Albert Belle said he'd like to interview for the Indians' managerial vacancy: "Arnold Schwarzenegger has a better chance becoming a marriage counselor."
Janice Hough again: If Prince Fielder ever tries to slide into third base with Pablo Sandoval trying to block him it would register on the Richter scale."
Comedy writer Jerry Perisho, on Twitter: "Prince Fielder looks like a uniform stuffed with wadded up newspaper."
Steve Simmons of Sunmedia: . "Jerry Sandusky got a 30-year sentence, which is essentially life in prison. Graham James received a two-year sentence. Canadian justice, please explain."
Norman Chad of the Washington Post, on Twitter: "When Obama was bailing out Detroit, how come he didn't do anything about the Tigers' bullpen?"
