Canada is the world champion in both men's and women's tennis, but it can't stop there

When people think of tennis, the Olympics aren't often top of mind.

The quadrennial competition lacks the pedigree of the Grand Slams and may not even be considered the top-tier international event.

Indeed, Canada — for now — is the world champion in both men's and women's tennis, having won a maiden Davis Cup last year before a first-ever Billie Jean King Cup triumph earlier this month.

It all begs the question: what's next?

"I could say Olympics. It would be incredible to have either one boy or one girl or both of them win a medal at the Olympics. I could say that's our next goal or whatever. And yes, it would be a great goal," said Sylvain Bruneau, the outgoing head of women's tennis at Tennis Canada.

"But I think the goal is to see like a Bianca, yes she won the U.S. Open, but establish herself and maintain herself at the highest level and the same with Felix [Auger-Aliassime] and more players."

Tennis at the Paris Olympics next summer may be more intriguing than most as it will be contested at Roland Garros, the clay-court home of the French Open.

But if recent team tennis wins show anything, it's that Canadians can be party crashers — perhaps even on the Olympic podium.

"It's a really reachable goal and it shows tennis in the country has made incredible progress. But we cannot be satisfied. We need to want more," Bruneau said.

Well, more starts this week as the Canadian men attempt to complete their Davis Cup title defence. They face a Finland team led by world No.71 Emil Ruusuvuori in the quarterfinals on Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET. Live coverage of the entire tournament from Malaga, Spain, is available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.

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