Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
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From sleeping in her own bed to loading tennis gear into her car and driving north, the Saskatoon Pro Tennis Classic has been unlike most of Teah Chavez’s usual tournaments.
What’s stayed constant however, has been the match victories the 20-year-old has racked up this week at the Riverside Tennis Club.
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“Being around family and friends, it’s just so awesome to be here,” Chavez said.
“I’m so thankful for the opportunity to get to play around them. Especially going to college in the States, it’s really tough being away from home.”
The Regina athlete has been one of the stars of the week at the World Tennis event in Saskatoon, which has brought together professional women’s athletes looking to earn points and a promotion to the Women’s Tennis Association tour.
In both singles and doubles, the Saskatchewan tennis star has been one of the top performers in front of her provincial fans.
It is consistency which she said had been missing in her most recent events.
“The last couple of weeks have been rough for me,” Chavez said. “I’ve just been trying to get my confidence back and really going back to the way I was, and I feel like I’m achieving that this week.”
In doubles, Chavez found her groove with partner Scarlett Nicholson and advanced to Thursday’s finals where they fell in a three-set marathon 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 to the American duo of Alyssa Ahn and Kaya Moe.
While a first professional title still eludes Chavez in doubles, she believes the long lasting partnership between herself and Nicholson will lead to the pair raising a trophy.
“She’s the best,” Chavez said. “We’ve been friends since we were like 10 years old, so it’s really cool that we’ve gotten this far.”
On the singles side of the bracket, Chavez advanced to Friday’s quarter-finals with a convincing 7-5, 6-2 win over Japan’s Erika Sema in the Round of 16 on Thursday.
Chavez followed that up with a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Miho Kuramochi 6-3, 6-3 to book her spot in Saturday’s semifinal.
Once Saskatchewan’s highest ranked junior girl, Regina’s Teah Chavez is coming off being named Big 10 women’s tennis player of the year after her junior season at Ohio State. (Ohio State Buckeyes/X)
It’s part of a breakout year for Chavez, who is coming off her third season competing at the NCAA level with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Ranked 11th in the nation to begin her junior season, Chavez shot up the NCAA ranks thanks to a 23-6 singles record to climb as high as the second-seeded athlete in collegiate women’s tennis.
“I’ve seen myself grow a lot,” Chavez said. “Not only on the tennis court, but also off. I’m so thankful for my coaches and the people around me for pushing me every day to get better.”
Regina’s Teah Chavez is making quite the run this week at the ITF Saskatoon Pro Tennis Classic.
— Scott Roblin (@ScottRoblin) July 23, 2026
🇨🇦 Chavez is facing 🇯🇵 Erika Sema in the Round of 16 in singles and will be playing tonight in the doubles final.@CKOMNews @CJMENews pic.twitter.com/3YEhILHlFX
She ended her season ranked fifth in the NCAA, and took home some hardware with Ohio State as the Big 10 conference’s women’s tennis player of the year award.
“It was really cool to get that recognition,” Chavez said. “I’ve been working really hard and it was awesome to see that. I had a great year, finished fifth in the nation which I was super happy about.”
Tennis began at an early age for Chavez, who had a racket in her hands at six years old as she followed in the footsteps of her older sister Anya.
The pair quickly rose through the Saskatchewan ranks, both earning number one rankings in their respective age groups and appearances at the Canada Summer Games.
Anya eventually graduated to Missouri Western State University, which provided a road map for Teah and other elite players in the province.
“(Anya) went to college, I went to college and there’s another kid named Keegan Rice who is super successful,” Chavez said.
“We obviously grew up together, we trained together, are best friends. It’s super cool having that person, especially having my sister as well.”
With each victory Chavez collects in Saskatoon, she inches a bit closer to a life-changing tournament opportunity in the coming weeks.
Chavez is part of Tennis Canada’s Road to the NBO program, which allows for a coveted Canadian wildcard berth for the annual National Bank Open tournament.
Points earned at the Saskatoon Pro Classic will go towards Chavez’s bid towards playing alongside some of the top players in the world in Toronto next month, as she’s currently ranked sixth among Canadian wildcard contenders.
“It’s just something that every kid dreams about in Canada,” Chavez said. “You grow up hearing the National Bank Open, it’s such a cool tournament. I just want to play in front of Canada because it’s so special here and I love being at home.”
Her path to the National Bank Open is still not complete, as Chavez is determined to walk away from Saskatoon with her first singles title and a chance to climb up the wildcard list.
The enjoyment of her time on the court has fuelled those results as well.
“I’m really just trying to go back to who I am as a tennis player and as a person,” Chavez said.
“Just having fun and enjoying it, so it’s really awesome to be able to showcase my best tennis abilities right now for other people to see. I’m really happy to be playing this level of tennis.”
Even though she’s just a few years graduated from Martin Collegiate Institute in Regina, Chavez hopes her accolades through the collegiate and professional levels will inspire other young athletes in her home province and turn Saskatchewan into a hotbed for tennis.
“They really have the opportunity to be great,” Chavez said.
“I think if they keep pushing and keep growing, it’s just going to be insane what they accomplish. There’s really hardworking people here and I think that’s the reason why they go so far. I’m super excited to see the growth in tennis is Saskatchewan and I think it’s all because of the people.”
Chavez will face off against China’s Jia-Jing Lu in the women’s singles semifinal on Saturday, which will follow the early semifinal matchup between Australia’s Lizette Cabrera and Canada’s Ariana Arseneault at noon.
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