Youth tennis clinic held alongside Félix Auger-Aliassime at National Bank Open in Montreal

Some of the world’s best tennis stars have arrived in Montreal to compete in the National Bank Open presented by Rogers and some young tennis players from Quebec are getting a chance to learn from the best.

At the IGA stadium on Tuesday, 25 young players from the Quebec City area hit the court as part of Rogers’ Youth Clinics, alongside the Aliassime Tennis Academy and the Aleksandra Wozniak Tennis Academy.

They learned tennis skills through an on-court clinic alongside Tennis Canada professional coaches and Canadian tennis star Félix Auger-Aliassime.

He joined kids on the court to inspire and take their tennis game to the next level.

“I think the main thing is seeing me in person and seeing me so close. I mean, at this age, I didn’t have a luxury to see a professional player, to see some of my idols in person,” said Auger-Aliassime. “And always felt like, ‘Oh, this was for other people, and this like a movie,’ you know? It wasn’t real. So, I think for me to be here in person and to be so close to them, it’s like, okay, he’s one of us. It puts the dream a little bit closer than if it was always on TV, right.”

Sofia Lucky travelled from Quebec City to participate in the tennis clinic.

The nine-year old aspiring tennis player said that Auger-Aliassime is a great player.

“He seemed like a nice person,” said Lucky. “We did a game, everyone hit a ball with Felix. It was really fun. Then we get autographs, and he signed our balls.”

The tennis clinics are complemented by a Rogers and Tennis Canada partnership to build 160 new year-round courts and up to 30 new facilities by 2029 to make tennis more accessible for young Canadian tennis players.

A new facility with year-round courts is already in the works on Île Bizard, west of Montreal.

“It’s nice to see the kids, to see them smile on their faces. Obviously, some of them are just starting tennis, but I hope this encourages them to keep on going. It’s not easy sport to control that ball time after time, but I hope they can pick it up and get better and better,” said Auger-Aliassime.

Charlie Thomas-Simard is a nine-year-old tennis player from Quebec City. She said that meeting Auger-Aliassime was a rare opportunity.

He recently won Canada’s first tennis medal in 24 years at the Olympics with the bronze in mixed doubles.

“It was so cool meeting him, hitting balls with him. We were trying to do aces all the way, but he got them all,” said Thomas-Simard. “It’s really rare to see him in person because he’s always playing, and it was really amazing.”

Rogers Communications is the parent company of CityNews.