Growing up, Jared Horwood was surrounded by all things tennis.
His parents, Pam and Rob, were high level players who for the past 33 years have owned Merchant of Tennis on Bayview. The business is both a highly successful in-store and online retailer as well as a provider of services including racquet stringing and customization.
But while he and his sister Samantha spent hours as kids helping in the store and at tournaments, tennis was not initially Horwood’s main sport.
As he explains, “(my) parents never forced (me) into tennis.” But blood willed out.
While he played other sports including soccer, hockey and golf, his day usually ended with his dad asking him if he wanted to “go hit some balls.”
In fact, it wasn’t until he was 14 that tennis became Horwood’s athletic focus. Coached by several people including his dad, he quickly climbed the ranks and had multiple wins, including being a U18 Provincial Doubles Champion in 2019.
His success on the courts earned him a tennis scholarship at the University of Arizona. After graduation, Horwood finished his university tennis career at the University of Arkansas.
An All-American player and honour roll student, Horwood earned degrees in Business Management and Business Marketing. These disciplines, he knew, would be most valuable when he ultimately went to work with Merchant of Tennis.
These days the 25-year-old plays professional tennis half the year and works with the business the other half.
His play has taken him to Japan, the Dominican Republic, the UK and to tournaments around North America.
On the business side, Jared has taken on a leadership role. Most recently, Merchant of Tennis was the official retailer and stringer for the National Bank Open Tournament.
As an experienced stringer (he strung his first racquet at the age of 10!) Horwood recruited and headed up the stringing team made up of, among others, stringers who had worked at Wimbledon, the Roland-Garros (French Open), the U.S. Open and more.
After stringing almost 1,700 racquets during the tournament, Horwood and his team have already moved on to their next challenge.
Jared will continue to mix tennis playing with tennis stringing both on the court and in the business of Merchant of Tennis.
