On Tuesday, Sharon Fichman (Toronto, ON) officially announced her retirement from professional tennis at the age of 34 to take up a coaching position with Tennis Canada. After spending the last few years away from the court due to injuries, Fichman ends her career with 27 titles – 18 in doubles and nine in singles – and a career-high ranking of No. 21 in doubles and No. 77 on the singles circuit.
As a junior, Fichman reached a ranking of No. 5 in the world, notably winning five national tennis championships and two Junior Grand Slams in doubles. She eventually turned pro in 2009 and made an immediate impact, reaching her first WTA Tour-level final at the Portugal Open in doubles and winning two ITF $25,000 events in singles that year. She won her biggest singles title in 2014 at an ITF W100 in France and earned her highest singles ranking of 77th the following week.
After taking a break from tennis in 2016-2017, Fichman returned to the professional circuit in 2018, specializing in doubles, and made an even bigger footprint on Tour. She won titles at WTA events in Latvia and Mexico, before winning her best career title in 2021 at the Italian Open – a WTA 1000 tournament – alongside her Mexican partner Giuliana Olmos. That same year, Fichman accomplished one of her biggest career goals, donning the Maple Leaf at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo with Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski in doubles. Fichman concluded her 2021 season at the WTA Finals with partner Olmos, where she contested her last-ever match.
Beyond her success on the WTA Tour, Fichman has been a stalwart of the Canadian women’s team, playing for 11 years at the Billie Jean King Cup – the second most of any Canadian. She made a winning debut in 2005 at just 14 years old, claiming her match against Paraguay 6-1, 6-2 to help Canada reach the Americas Play-Offs. The Torontonian went on to win 24 matches at the Billie Jean King Cup, ranking her fourth all-time among her compatriots.
“I loved playing for Canada – I always showed up for Canada whenever I was asked,” said Fichman. “I loved competing in Canada, and I always had really good results competing at home and it was always such a great experience. It was such a privilege and an honour.”
COACHING THE NEXT GENERATION
Following her final match, Fichman joined the Granite Club in a coaching role, as well as Tennis Canada to coach at the Regional Tennis Centre in Toronto and as a touring coach, travelling internationally with Canada’s top junior players. She was also named captain of the 2024 Junior Bille Jean King Junior Cup team, qualifying for the round robin of the Finals in her first year behind the bench. This represented a full-circle moment for Fichman, who previously won a silver medal for Team Canada at the event in 2004.
“It’s really great to be involved at the Regional Training Centre, the kids are awesome,” added Fichman. “And at the same time, I’m doing tours with that same age group. I feel like I’m getting a lot of experience working with different people, different age groups, different players at different points in their career. It’s helping me a lot as a coach and also keeping things really fun, fresh, and interesting.”
Fichman is one of the many women coaches who have joined the Canadian tennis landscape in recent years, as gender parity in leadership roles continues to improve. As part of the Women Leading pillar of Tennis Canada’s Game. Set. Equity. (GSE) commitment in partnership with National Bank, the objective is to increase the number of active women coaches in the country to 40 per cent by 2027. As such, funding from the commitment is directly supporting opportunities for Fichman in her development and coaching career.
“On behalf of the entire organization, I want to extend my warmest wishes to Sharon [Fichman] on her retirement from professional tennis,” said Guillaume Marx, Vice President of High Performance at Tennis Canada. “Sharon’s tremendous skill, leadership, and most importantly her dedication to the sport have made a huge mark on Canadian tennis and served as an inspiration to many. We are extremely lucky to have the opportunity to continue working with Sharon at Tennis Canada as she has joined us in a coaching role to help us ensure that we have more Olympians, WTA Finalists, and WTA 1000 champions in the future, just like her.”
Off the court, Fichman is an ambassador of the GSE commitment and is a key member of Tennis Canada’s Mental Health and Wellness Strategy Task Force. She can occasionally be found in the Sportsnet broadcast booth, covering the Billie Jean King Cup and National Bank Open presented by Rogers.
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