Peter Burwash
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Peter Burwash (b. February 10, 1945 Brockville, Ontario[1][2]) is Canadian athlete, tennis coach, television commentator, motivational speaker and writer.
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[edit] Tennis career
Burwash was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the National Hockey League but chose to pursue tennis instead. He played the professional tour from 1967-1973 and then, as one of the original members of the ATP Tour, played in 1973 and 1974. He was the winner of 19 titles (including singles and doubles) and also played Davis Cup for Canada.
After retiring from professional tennis, in 1975 he founded Peter Burwash International, a tennis management company that operates in 32 countries. He remains its president.
He is a USPTA (United States profesional Tennis Association) Master professional and has coached many tennis players, including Venus Williams and Serena Williams, Greg Rusedski, and Sébastien Lareau when he won the gold medal in doubles with Daniel Nestor at the 2000 Olympics.
[edit] Writer and motivator
Burwash is the author of 10 books on topics such as nutrition, exercise, personal development, teenagers, service and leadership. A recent book The Key to Great Leadership (1998) discusses the qualities that Burwash believes constitutes a great leader. He currently tours the World giving motivational speeches and also owns several tennis camps. He is also an instructional editor for Tennis Magazine and is a certified sport physiologist and nutritionist.
As well, he is a TV commentator for The Sports Network (TSN) and CBC in Canada. He is known as a strong supporter of the USTA's decision to allow players to challenge calls using Hawk-Eye technology and believes that the current height of the net in men's professional matches could be raised (similar to Men's Volleyball) to neutralise the power from the new technology and superbly fit and stronger players of this era.
[edit] Honours and awards
He reached a career high of World No. 64 in singles and No. One in Canada in singles.[3]
Burwash was awarded the Educational Merit Award by the International Tennis Hall of Fame for his mentoring and teaching of tennis.
He was inducted into the University of Toronto Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.
