Canadian tennis is on the upswing; what about squash?

Eugenie Bouchard - Canadian tennis

The highest world ranking ever achieved by a Canadian tennis player, at the time of writing, is No. 9. The highest world ranking achieved by a Canadian squash player is No. 1. Canadian tennis is on the upswing while Canadian squash has some work to do. 

For the first time in Canadian tennis history, two Canadians reached the quarter-finals of a tennis grand slam tournament – the 2014 French Open. As Milos Raonic went down fighting against the second-seeded Novak Djokovic and Eugenie Bouchard clawed her way past Spain’s Suarez Navarro to reach her second consecutive grand slam semi-final, an obvious question comes to mind – Can a Canadian win a tennis Grand Slam title?

It is possible. A Canadian tennis grand slam champion is no longer a pipe dream!

So what is happening in tennis that is not happening in Canadian squash?

Eugenie Bouchard currently ranked twelfth in the world and Milos Raonic, ranked ninth, have helped revive interest in Canadian tennis that has been missing for a while. Squash has no equivalent. The PSA rankings show Shawn Delierre, the highest-ranked Canadian squash player, sitting at No. 74 while Samantha Cornett, ranked at No.30 on WSA’s list, is the highest-ranked female squash player from Canada.

Not ideal!

Historically speaking, Daniel Nestor was the only one getting any limelight among Canadian tennis fans. Despite eighty-five career titles and $11 million in earnings, Nestor is not exactly what you would call a household name. But, now we have fresh blood; the game is back on track.

[Tweet “So what’s up with Canadian #squash? When will we see another Jonathan Power?”]

Clearly, it has to do with money.

The top-ranked squash player in the world – Nick Matthew – earned just over $300,000 in 2013. The ninety-second-ranked tennis player Michael Russell made over $200,000 during the same period taking his career earnings to over $2 Million. Unfortunately, squash players trying to make a living playing the sport have to contend with the fact that they may need a real job to support themselves past their competing days.

Melanie Jans, shown in the video below, is a perfect example! Melanie who was ranked as high as No.25 in the world, joined Club Meadowvale as the head squash pro in 2012.

So, can the love of the game alone get Canadian squash back to its glory days?

Do you have a comment or suggestion?