Simon Larose
Simon Larose (born June 28, 1978 in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec, Canada) is a former professional tennis player. He was Canada's top-ranked singles player for some months during 2003 and 2004. Larose retired from the tour shortly after being banned for two years for substance abuse.
Larose joined the ATP professional tour at the age of 20 in 1998 having played collegiately at Mississippi State University, which has a deep connection with Canadian tennis - http://oncourt.ca/news/2012/05/10/pierre-%E2%80%98the-bear%E2%80%99-lamarche-%E2%80%9Cno-coincidence-2-introduction-to-the-mississippi-diaries%E2%80%9D/. He was Canada's top-ranked singles player, according to the ATP rankings, in 2003 from January 6 until February 3, from May 19 until June 23, and from August 18 until October 13, and again in 2004 from July 12 until August 2. His best singles ATP ranking is World No. 189, which he achieved in July, 2004.
Although Larose did not make any official announcement, he was quoted in the press as saying that he retired from tennis after being levied a two-year ban in February 2005 by the ATP for testing positive for cocaine. At the time of his supposed cocaine use he had been out of action with a back injury and blamed his decision to quit on that http://www.thehindu.com/2005/02/18/stories/2005021800621700.htm
Since his retirement from the ATP circuit Larose has been coaching at a local tennis club, moving on to coach for Tennis Canada.
Simon mades Canadian radio history when he provided analysis on the first-ever Canadian English language production of the 2010 Rogers Cup tennis final along with CJAD 800's Rick Moffat (play-by-play) and Mark Shalhoub (courtside reporter).
See also
Larose provided CJAD 800 coverage for the 2012 Rogers Cup and returns to the booth August 10-11 for the Men's Singles Semis and Final.
LaRose has been successful as a coach, and was appointed the Canadian National team's head coach http://www.thestar.com/sports/tennis/2013/08/03/rogers_cup_pro_tennis_different_ball_game_for_gabriela_dabrowski.html and also http://www.yonex.com/company/news/tennis/first-impressions/impression-for-vcore-tour-from-canada/ and has coached, among other players, Vancouver's Rebecca Marino http://montrealgazette.com/sports/tennis/canadian-coaching-carousel and Francoise Abanda http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2014/07/31/young-canuck-abanda-wants-to-follow-bouchards-lead Other players he has coached can be found here http://www.zoominfo.com/p/Simon-Larose/1829770067