In what is almost certainly a historical moment for this province, one native of Newfoundland and Labrador is replacing another Newfoundlander as the head of a major national sports organization.
Jennifer Bishop, originally from St. John’s, is set to take over as chair of Tennis Canada’s board of directors next month. She replaces Derrick Rowe of St. John’s in the sport’s top post.
Bishop, a Toronto lawyer, is only the second female to head up the organization in its 129-year history.
She was only 11 when she moved from St. John’s to London, Ont. to attend the All-Canadian Tennis Academy. Winner of national and Atlantic junior championships, she attended the University of South Florida on an athletic scholarship.
As little as five years ago, she was playing seniors tennis and reached No. 7 on the ITF World Seniors rankings.
Bishop joined the Tennis Canada board in 2016 and was recently its chair of Tennis Development, and a member of the executive and finance committees.
It’s an exciting time to head up Tennis Canada, given the success of Canada’s Milos Raonic and Denis Chapovalov, currently ranked 15th and 20th in the world, and Bianca Andreescu, who is 23rd on the WTA rankings.
