Rogers Cup 2012 Toronto

This was my first Rogers Cup as president of the OTA, and boy was it a busy week! As soon as I returned from Ottawa Open/Roman Cup, I jumped on court Sunday as line official for some of the qualifier matches with the likes of Fognini, Reynolds, Berrer, Dodig, Odesnik, Gabashvili, Ebden and Stakhovsky. The opening weekend is a good time for us line officials to warm up our eyes and begin getting used to the fast servers. There was also a bit extra pressure this year as the Grand Stand (GS) was outfitted with the Hawk-Eye technology to allow player challenges, just like on Centre Court. I also worked line calls on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I would say my highlight was Wed afternoon at about 2pm when I spent about 30 minutes on court with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Jeremy Chardy. That was my first time on Centre court and what a thrill to be calling lines for these players!

Ready to go on court

Seventh Annual OTA Presidents' Day

Monday gave me a day break to meet many of the OTA member club reps attending Presidents' Day at the Buick Pavilion. This marks the 7th year holding this event and it is always well attended. I'm sure we had nearly 200 attendees. For those who've never attended, it's a chance to network with like-minded volunteers who work hard to maintain an active club and promote tennis to their members. The agenda is not too heavy...a nice continental breakfast followed by some introductions of the staff and board, and this year a quick update by myself on the results of the OTA survey that was distributed electronically a few months ago. The full results will be published in the September issue of OT Magazine. After a few draws for prizes and a few photos, everyone left for the courts to watch some exciting matches. Thanks to everyone for attending!

For more photos of the entire week at Rogers Cup ATP, go to the OTA facebook page.