{"id":808636,"date":"2026-07-17T20:57:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:57:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/808636\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T20:57:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:57:13","slug":"rising-regina-tennis-player-hopes-to-cap-wild-year-with-wild-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/808636\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising Regina tennis player hopes to cap wild year with wild card"},"content":{"rendered":"

Teah Chavez has already had\u00a0a smashing season\u00a0\u2014 and\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a chance it could get even better.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After being named the NCAA Big 10 Conference women\u2019s tennis player of the year in her third year at Ohio State, the 20-year-old Regina product is competing in a pair of pro-level tournaments this\u00a0summer,\u00a0which could put her in contention\u00a0to earn a wildcard spot to play in the\u00a0National Bank Open, the largest pro tennis\u00a0event\u00a0in Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll a Canadian kid can think of growing up is playing at the National Bank Open because it\u2019s the biggest tournament in Canada, and everyone wants to do it,\u201d said Chavez. \u201cBeing a contender for that is pretty cool and I\u2019m just trying my best every day to you know put my right foot forward and just do the best I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Regina'sRegina\u2019s Teah Chavez competes in the International Tennis Federation W25 Saskatoon Challenger in Saskatoon, SK on Thursday, July 21, 2022. Matt Smith \/ Saskatoon StarPhoenix<\/p>\n

Growing up in Regina, Chavez got into tennis around the age of six. While it\u00a0started as \u201csomething fun\u201d her and her older sister Anya could do together, it turned into a passion that Teah started to take more seriously around the age of 15 while attending Martin Collegiate, where she\u00a0enrolled in the Premier Academy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI would go to school from 7 a.m. to 12, and then I would train in the afternoon, which was super cool,\u201d said Chavez. \u201cIt\u2019s a super awesome program if you want to be successful in your career.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TeahTeah Chavez tosses a ball to Nathan Morrison at the Lakeshore Tennis Club in Regina on Sunday June 21, 2015. Michael Bell \/ Regina Leader-Post<\/p>\n

After being ranked No. 1 in Saskatchewan and in the top 10 in Canada,\u00a0Chavez earned a scholarship at Ohio State University and recorded a 19-16 record in\u00a0singles\u00a0in her\u00a0freshman\u00a0season in 2023-24.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2024-25, she finished with a\u00a026-9\u00a0singles record before being named the\u00a0Midwest\u00a0region\u2019s\u00a0most improved player and an Intercollegiate Tennis Association All-American. <\/p>\n

Last season, she had a 23-6 singles record\u00a0as she was named an All-American for a second straight year before also\u00a0earning\u00a0Big 10 Conference player-of-the-year\u00a0honours\u00a0in April.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was one of my goals, and I\u2019m really happy that I was able to cross that off,\u201d said Chavez, who finished the year ranked No. 5 after being ranked as high as No. 2 in the country at one point during the season. \u201cGetting the recognition was awesome, and not only doing it for myself, but also my team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0pretty cool\u00a0to recognize Ohio State like that.\u00a0They built me to who I am right now as a player and as a person.\u00a0So,\u00a0I think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0pretty cool\u00a0for them to get that recognition as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my\u00a0freshman year, I lost more than I won,\u201d she continued. \u201cIt was\u00a0a very different\u00a0dynamic for me. I\u00a0wasn\u2019t\u00a0really used to playing that much or being on court that much.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the help of Ohio State, I was able to grow so much, not only as a tennis player but also as a person, and it made me really develop my way of going about the court and how I approach different situations and my maturity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think I\u2019m a much better person and\u00a0tennis player because of Ohio State because of the situation that they put me in\u00a0and\u00a0I\u2019m super grateful for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Regina'sRegina\u2019s Teah Chavez is in contention for a wildcard spot for the 2026 National Bank Open. Mark Ritchie \/ Tennis Canada<\/p>\n

Before she heads back for her fourth season with the Buckeyes, Chavez is playing in a pair of professional events this summer with the hopes of qualifying for another.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last week, she competed in\u00a0a\u00a0W75\u00a0event in Granby,\u00a0losing to\u00a0Japan\u2019s\u00a0Kayo Nishimura in the first round, and next week, she\u2019s playing in the Pro Tennis Classic in Saskatoon, which is a W35 event held at the Riverside Badminton and Tennis Club from July 20-26.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 50 professional players from across the world will compete for a prize pool of\u00a0US$30,000\u00a0and valuable ranking points on the WTA World Tennis circuit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If she earns enough pro points this summer\u00a0in Tennis Canada\u2019s Road to the NBO initiative, Chavez, who was ranked sixth among wildcard contenders heading in, could earn a spot in the National Bank Open, a WTA 1000-level event\u00a0set to be played Aug. 2-13\u00a0in Toronto.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The field for the event includes World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu and seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams.\u00a0(Regina\u2019s Keegan Rice, who plays at the University of Virginia, is also a contender for a wildcard spot in the men\u2019s tournament in\u00a0Montreal).\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would mean so much,\u201d said Chavez. \u201cTo get the opportunity to play with the best of the best would be super cool.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll these Canadian girls that are\u00a0competing for it are\u00a0very high\u00a0level. We\u2019re all very comparable\u00a0in\u00a0levels of success, and I think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0really\u00a0cool\u00a0to be able to share that with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0definitely hoping to be one of the front runners, and I\u2019m just going to keep working every day and see how it goes from there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Regardless of\u00a0whether\u00a0she qualifies or not, Chavez is poised to head back to Ohio State next season for her fourth year before having to\u00a0make a decision\u00a0to turn pro following her senior season or head back to school for a fifth year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She\u2019s\u00a0hoping playing in some of these pro events this summer will help her with that choice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think every college kid has a goal of making it pro, but it\u2019s just super tough,\u201d said Chavez. \u201cEven the girls that are not even in the\u00a0top\u00a0100 are\u00a0very good.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a very hard\u00a0ceiling to break.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis summer I just really want to show that I can play with the top level here at the pro level. I just want to do my best and see how I can manage evolving outside of college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing how I can do and seeing if it\u2019s the right fit for me is definitely something that I\u2019m interested in. Just going about it as\u00a0almost my\u00a0job because that could\u00a0possibly be\u00a0my future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of decisions to make after that fourth year.\u00a0Maybe I\u00a0go\u00a0pro.\u00a0Maybe I\u00a0save\u00a0my fifth year.\u00a0I\u2019m not really sure yet, but only time will tell.\u00a0I just\u00a0have to\u00a0keep working and see what the right decision is for me at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

tshire@postmedia.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Teah Chavez has already had\u00a0a smashing season\u00a0\u2014 and\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0a chance it could get even better.\u00a0 After being named the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":808637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[283855,49,48,158032,276176,82,593],"class_list":["post-808636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-283855","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-category-sports","tag-leader-post","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=808636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/808636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/808637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=808636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=808636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=808636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}