Jennifer "Jen" Saunders (born November 18, 1976) is a Canadian retired racquetball player from Winnipeg, Manitoba. In her last Canadian Championships in 2019, Saunders won both Women's Singles, for a record extending 11th time, and Women's Doubles, for a 13th time. Her 11 Canadian Women's Singles Championships and 24 combined Canadian Women's Singles and Doubles Championships are Canadian women's records. Saunders was the 2009 Manitoba Female Athlete of the Year as voted by the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Saunders announced her retirement from competition in December 2019, as she accepted the position of Administrator of High Performance and Sport Development with Racquetball Canada. In July 2020, Saunders was named as one of the 2020 inductees into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Saunders was born in Thompson, Manitoba, to Ed and Ruth Saunders, the youngest of their three girls. Growing up in Thompson, she began playing racquetball at age 10. Saunders moved to Winnipeg to attend the University of Winnipeg, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Activity and Sport Studies in 1999. She was hired by Racquetball Manitoba in 1999 as program coordinator, and she is now their executive director.

Saunders was a referee at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, as well as the 2000 World Championships. She was recognized by Racquetball Canada for this work with the Women's Award in 2000 (co-winner with Valari Hendrickson).

Racquetball career

1996–2002 Saunders's racquetball career started slowly. "I wasn't very good as a teenager playing racquetball," said Saunders, and "when I was 18, people laughed at me when I said I wanted to be on the national team." At 19, She won Women's A at the 1996 Canadian Championships in Montreal. Despite that win, Saunders wasn't ranked in the top 50 women players in Canada at age 20.

She then won back-to-back Mixed Doubles A Division titles, in 1997 with François Viens and in 1998 with Trent Foley.

Competing in the Women's Open Doubles division at the 1999 Canadian Championships, Saunders and partner Julie Neubauer won the consolation title. They followed that with a 4th-place finish at the 2000 Canadian Championships.

Saunders got to her first significant result in Women's Singles at the Canadian Championships in 2001, when she was the 6th seed yet reached the final by defeating Lori-Jane Powell in the semi-finals, 11–6, 11–0, 11–2, but lost the final to Josée Grand'Maître, 11–5, 11–6, 11–7. Saunders again played Women's Doubles with Neubauer, and they finished 5th.

Saunders made Team Canada for the first time in 2002, when she played Women's Singles at the 2002 Pan American Championships (then called Tournament of the Americas) in Cochabomba, Bolivia. Saunders finished 4th, as she lost to American Laura Fenton in the semi-finals, and then lost to American Rhonda Rajsich in the 3rd place match.

After being a finalist in Women's Singles at Nationals in 2001, Saunders went one better at the 2002 Canadian Championships, as she captured her first Women's Singles title. She defeated Neubauer in the quarterfinals, 15–7, 15–4, Powell in the semi-finals, 15–10, 15–6, and Grand'Maître in the final, 15–12, 15–4. Afterwards, Saunders, then 25, said "it's something I've worked on for so long and it's so unbelievable. I couldn't imagine it could go any better." She came 3rd in Women's Doubles playing with Powell, as they lost in the semi-finals to Grand'Maître and Chantal Turgeon, 15–10, 15–9, in the semi-finals, then beat Neubauer and Véronique Guillemette for 3rd, 15–7, 15–11.

Her Canadian Championship qualified her to play in the Racquetball World Championships for the first time. Saunders played Women's Singles for Canada at the 2002 World Championships in Puerto Rico, where she was the silver medalist. Saunders reached the final by defeating the USA's Laura Fenton, 15–6, 7–15, 11–3, in the semi-finals, but in the final she lost to USA veteran Cheryl Gudinas, 15–13, 15–13.

2003–2008

In 2003, Saunders and Josée Grand'Maître started playing Women's Doubles together, and it became the most successful partnership in Canadian racquetball history, as they won 10 Canadian Championships together. Their first Women's Doubles title was at the 2003 Canadian Championships. They defeated Saunders's former doubles partners Powell and Neubauer, who played together that year, in the final, 15–6, 8–15, 11–8. But Saunders didn't successfully defend her Women's Singles title, although she did get to the final for a third straight year. In the semi-finals, Saunders beat Grand'Maître in the semi-finals, 15–7, 15–8, but in the final, she narrowly lost to Powell, 8–15, 15–4, 13–11.

Her performances helped to earn Saunders a spot on Team Canada at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She played Women's Singles, but lost in the quarterfinals to teammate Lori-Jane Powell, 15–14, 14–15, 11–1. The Canadians met in the quarters because Saunders didn't win her pool, losing two matches: one to Angela Grisar of Chile, 15–3, 14–15 11–5, and one to Claudine Garcia of the Dominican Republic, 11–15, 15–7, 11–6. while Powell won all her pool matches and claimed the 2nd seed for the medal round playoffs.

The 2004 Canadian Championships played out as they did in 2003. Saunders and Grand'Maître won Women's Doubles for the second time, defeating Powell and Neubauer in the final, 15–9, 15–8, and Geneviève Brodeur and Véronique Guillemette in the semi-finals, 15–2, 15–2. But in Women's Singles, Saunders lost the final to Powell, 15–13, 15–13. She reached the final by defeating Grand'Maître in the semis, 9–15, 15–12, 11–7.

At the 2004 World Championships in Anyang, South Korea, Saunders played Women's Doubles with Grand'Maître, and they finished with bronze medals, as they lost to Mexicans Susana Acosta and Rosy Torres, 8–15, 15–5, 11–4. In the Women's Team event, Saunders and her Canadian teammates got silver, losing to Team USA in the final.

Saunders won both Women's Singles and Doubles at the 2005 Canadian Championships. She and Grand'Maître won their 3rd straight doubles title, again defeating Powell and Neubauer, 15–12, 11–15, 11–2. In the singles semi-finals, Saunders defeated Grand'Maître, 15–7, 15–8, and then beat Linda Ellerington in the final, 15–3, 11–15, 11–1 to win her second Women's Singles Canadian Championship.

Saunders's accomplishments in 2005 got her nominated for the 2005 Manitoba Female Athlete of the year finalist.

Saunders and Grand'Maître won their 4th Canadian Championship in Women's Doubles in 2006, when they again defeated Powell and Neubauer in the final, 15–8, 15–0. However, in Women's Singles, Saunders lost the final to Christie Van Hees, 15–11, 15–11.

Saunders made her third appearance at the World Championships in 2006 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. She played Women's Singles, defeating Mexican Paola Longoria in the quarterfinals, 15–6 15–5, but losing to Angela Grisar of Chile in the semi-finals, 15–9, 15–6, resulting in a bronze medal. In the Women's Team event, Team Canada got silver as they lost the final to the USA two matches to one, including Saunders's loss to Cheryl Gudinas, 15–12, 15–4.

Saunders competed in Women's Singles at the 2007 Pan American Championships in Santiago, Chile, where she lost to Paola Longoria in the quarterfinals.

Saunders's results at the 2007 Canadian Championships mirrored 2006, as she and Grand'Maître won their 5th Canadian Championship in Women's Doubles, but she again lost the final of Women's Singles to Van Hees. Her performances were recognized with a nomination for 2007 Manitoba Female Athlete of the Year.

In 2008, Saunders played Women's Singles at the Pan American Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica, where she was a bronze medalist after losing in the semi-finals to Paola Longoria of Mexico, 15–6, 6–15, 11–10.

Saunders was runner up in both Women's Singles and Doubles at the 2008 Canadian Championships in Burlington, Ontario, which was the first year she hadn't won at least one of those titles since 2001. She won the first game of the Women's Singles final versus Van Hees, but lost in a tie-breaker, 14–16, 15–7, 11–0. Saunders and Grand'Maître lost the Women's Doubles final to Geneviève Brodeur and Véronique Guillemette, 10–15, 16–14, 11–9. Indeed, that year Saunders and Grand'Maître needed a tie-breaker just to get to the final, as they went three games in the semi-finals versus Alison Schlichemeyer and Brandi Jacobson Prentice, winning 15–9, 14–16, 11–3.

At the 2008 World Championships in Kingscourt, Ireland, Saunders was 4th in Women's Singles, and 3rd in the Women's Team event. In singles, she lost in the semi-finals to Cheryl Gudinas of the US, 15–8, 11–15, 11–8, and then lost to Paola Longoria in 3rd place match, 15–9, 15–8. In the Women's Team event, Canada lost to Bolivia in the semi-finals, 3–0, but then defeated Chile, 2–1, for the bronze medal.

2009–2014

Saunders competed in Women's Singles at the 2009 Pan American Championships in Cali, Colombia, losing to Cheryl Gudinas of the US in the quarterfinals, 15–5, 15–10.

Saunders got back in the winner's circle at the 2009 Canadian Championships in Edmonton, as she won both Women's Singles and Doubles. For the first time in the singles final, she played Frédérique Lambert, winning 15–10, 15–8. Saunders and Grand'Maître won Women's Doubles for the 6th time.

Saunders's performances on the women's pro tour results in her finishing 9th at the end of the 2008–09 season.

Saunders competed at the 2009 World Games in Kaoshiung, Taiwan. She defeated Cristina Cordova of Ecuador to reach the quarterfinals, but in the quarters Saunders lost to Angela Grisar of Chile, 15–7, 15–5.

Saunders two Canadian Championships, top 10 pro ranking, and World Games results, led to her being named the 2009 Manitoba Female Athlete of the Year as voted by the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.

Saunders was a finalist in Women's Singles at the 2010 Pan American Championships in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. She defeated Mexican Nancy Enriquez in the semi-finals, 15–12, 15–11, but lost the final to Enriquez's teammate Paola Longoria, 15–10, 15–11.

Saunders successfully defended her Women's Singles Canadian Championship in 2010 in Burnaby, British Columbia. She defeated Josée Grand'Maître, 15–2, 15–10, in the Women's Singles final. Saunders and Grand'Maître once again teamed up in Women's Doubles, but were defeated by Frédérique Lambert and Brandi Jacobson Prentice, 15–8, 17–19, 11–4.

Saunders travelled to the 2010 World Championships in Seoul, South Korea, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Mexican Nancy Enriquez, 15–9, 15–9. But she was part of the Canadian team that were silver medalists in the Women's Team event, as they got to the final with a win over the home team of South Korea, and then lost to the US in final.

In August 2010, Saunders had her best women's pro tournament result at the 2010 Texas Open, as she defeated Adrienne Fisher in the quarterfinals, 11–8, 11–4, 14–12, and then beat Kerri Wachtel, 11–7, 8–11, 11–4, 12–10, in the quarterfinals. But in the semi-finals Saunders lost to Paola Longoria, 11–7, 11–5, 11–6.

Saunders was nominated for the 2010 Manitoba Female Athlete of the Year.

Saunders was the 2nd seed in Women's Singles at the 2011 Pan American Championships in Managua, Nicaragua, but was upset by Chilean Angela Grisar, 15–10, 13–15, 11–10.

Saunders won both Women's Singles and Doubles at the 2011 Canadian Championships in Antigonish and Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia. In Women's Singles, Saunders defeated Frédérique Lambert, 15–11, 15–7, while in Women's Doubles she and Josée Grand'Maître won their 7th title, as they defeated the defending champions Lambert and Brandi Jacobson Prentice, 15–3, 12–15, 11–3.

Saunders was ranked 7th at the end of the 2010–11 women's professional season, which was a career high.