Raghav Talwar believes destiny led him to find his dream job at the newly opened Zekelman Tennis Centre.
Growing up in India, the recent St. Clair Business program graduate could only imagine a life as a tennis pro. Now Talwar is part of an elite team of six experienced instructors at the state-of-the-art indoor facility under the supervision of Director of Tennis and Head Professional, Mike DiGiacomo.
"This is a dream job. This is something very special," Talwar said. "From the biggest to the very smallest detail. Everything here has been done at a triple-A level."
Talwar admittedly took a unique route to get to this dream job.
Growing up in the northern India capital city of Chandigarh, Talwar only started playing tennis at age nine when a family doctor recommended he play sports to treat his severe asthma.
"Initially it was a major struggle because I would be out of breath every day and I hated it," Talwar said. "It wasn't until I was 11 or 12 when I watched a tournament. I loved the adrenaline that was going on and I said, 'I want to compete. That's what I want to do.'."
Throughout his teenage years, Talwar trained and travelled across India to play at national level tournaments, peaking as the 14th-highest ranked player his age in the country of over 1.3 billion people. Unfortunately, a shoulder impingement injury at age 18 put his tennis career on hold for over two years. While rehabbing his shoulder, Talwar finished his undergraduate studies in India before choosing St. Clair College for his postgraduate studies in Canada.
Once Talwar moved to Windsor and began his studies at St. Clair, he searched for a way to play tennis recreationally. In 2019, Talwar was finally able to connect with DiGiacomo, a 15-year veteran instructor and head of the Windsor-Essex Canada Tennis Team.
"Raghav was a diamond in the rough for me. I met him when he was a student and he was constantly asking me to play tennis," DiGiacomo said. "He's a great individual, he's very personable and he's a hard-worker. So I asked him to join our team."
DiGiacomo says Talwar's loyalty and worth ethic is only matched by his passion for tennis.
"I feel like he can be a shining light to a lot of international students coming in," DiGiacomo said. "Once they see a guy like that and the way he hits a ball. It will make people interested."
The courts at the Zekelman Tennis Centre have been busy since the facility opened earlier this summer but Talwar believes once students are back on campus and physically step in the facility and play on the courts, there will be an avalanche of interest from all areas of the community.
"I fall in love with the sport more everyday. I love this," said Talwar. "When I tell people I'm coaching tennis full-time and send them pictures, they are awestruck with the facility.
The Zekelman Tennis Centre is an indoor four court, air-conditioned facility with state-of-the-art DecoTurf hard court surface and PlaySight Interactive SmartCourts technology. Complete with a pro shop, cafe and mezzanine seating area, the centre is looking forward to hosting tournaments, clinics and events in the near future.
- Brett Hedges