The newly designated Tennis NWT club pro is expecting a busy season ahead on the tennis courts.
“It’s great to see how much tennis has grown in the Northwest Territories in the past seven years,” Tamara Jovic said of the increasing popularity of the sport.
Being designated club pro means Jovic runs all the tennis leagues for adults and juniors.
“We have drop-in clinics three times a week, I run those, and I help out on tournaments and with the three to five-year-olds on Saturday mornings,” Jovic said.
“Every clinic or program or camp that we run, I'm in charge of,” she added.
Having been born into a tennis family — her parents Nikola and Slavica are very active tennis club members in Yellowknife — Tamara has been engaged in the sport since she was about five-years-old.
For the past seven years, upon completing her Instructors course, Tamara said she started becoming more involved in Yellowknife tennis and coaching.
In 2022, she earned her Club Pro 1 certification and is now completing her year-long Club Pro 2 certification course, which consists of submitting assignments and videos of her coaching.
“You learn how to run a club, run a tennis centre, budgeting, and a lot of on-court coaching as well.
“There were four off court days, so like kind of classroom on how to run a club, and then 12 on-court days for more coaching and hands-on,” Tamara said of the course structure.
Currently in her fifth year of studies at the University of Calgary, she now plays on the Dinos Varsity tennis team. She was also the assistant coach at the 2022 Canada Summer Games in Niagara.
Tamara said she loves the sport of tennis and would highly recommend it to anyone. As well as enjoying the camaraderie of the Yellowknife tennis community, she said there are many other things she enjoys about the sport.
“I like the problem solving that comes with playing tennis, like it's never the same. It's always different.”
She said anyone considering getting involved should not hesitate.
“Anybody can play tennis. You just need to get the courage and show up to a clinic. All you need is a ball and a racket and a friend. That's all you need to play tennis.”
Yellowknife Open tournament results
Part of the busy summer entailed a tournament held from July 3 to July 7.
On Court 1, the men’s singles final match was played. On the centre court, the ladies singles final match was played. On Court 3, the ladies doubles consolation match was played.
The results of the tournament are:
Men’s singles (6:1; 6:2)
Winner - Nikhilesh Gohil
Runner Up – Khizr Imran Tajammul
Ladies singles (6:2; 6:3)
Winner - Sepi Sohrabi
Runner Up – Shirley Zhang
Men’s doubles (6:0; 6:7; 6:0)
Winners – Nikhilesh Gohil and Nittin Gohil
Runners up – Nikola Jovic and Alberto Valero
Ladies doubles (6:0; 6:3)
Winners – Teresa Martin and Ofira Duru
Runners up – Maureen Mccabe and Elizabeth du Plessis
Mixed doubles (4:6; 6:1; 6:0)
Winners – Sepi Sohrabi and Alberto Valero
Runners up – Elizabeth du Plessis and Jean Tuyishime
Consolation matches
Men’s singles (6:0; 6:0)
Winner – Credence Wood
Runner Up – Andrew Morash
Ladies singles (default)
Winner – Sara Sohrabi
Runner Up – Oyuka Bernabe
Ladies doubles (5:7; 6:4; 6:2)
Winners – Slavica Jovic and Marissa Martin
Runners up – Tami Johnston and Catherine Boyd
Mixed doubles (6:0; 6:4)
Winners – Slavica Jovic and Nikola Jovic
Runners up – Tami Johnston and Michel Johnston