Calgary Nationwide Financial institution Challenger attracts Canadian, worldwide stars

Article content material

This 12 months’s Calgary Nationwide Financial institution Challenger contains a wholesome mixture of Canadian and younger worldwide tennis expertise.

Event director Danny Da Costa has introduced the lineup for the occasion, which runs Oct. 13-20 on the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre.

Rising American star J.J. Wolf, who was ranked 39 on this planet in 2023, is without doubt one of the headliners within the males’s draw. Wolf reached the spherical of 16 on the 2023 Australian Open and has wins over Prime 20 gamers Cam Norrie of Nice Britain, Frances Tiafoe of the US and Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.

Article content material

Becoming a member of Wolf is former world No. 17 Bernard Tomic of Australia and 2018 Calgary Nationwide Financial institution Challenger semifinalist Borna Gojo of Croatia, who was ranked as excessive as seventy fifth a 12 months in the past, and rising star Maks Kasnikowski of Poland. The boys’s draw options three Prime 200 gamers.

This 12 months’s draw additionally options two members of Canada’s 2024 Davis Cup crew. Vasek Pospisil, a former world No. 25 and a 2014 Wimbledon doubles champion, helped lead Canada to its first Davis Cup title in 2022. Becoming a member of him is Montreal’s Alexis Galarneau, who will make his fourth look in Calgary. He gained the Grandy, Que., Challenger title in 2023.

Defending Calgary champion Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., will make his third look within the event. The previous No. 1-ranked NCAA singles participant defeated Dominik Koepfer in final 12 months’s ultimate.

The ladies’s occasion is headlined by Tatjana Maria of Germany, a 2018 Wimbledon singles quarterfinalist and former world No. 42 who’s now ranked eighty fifth. A holder of three WTA Tour titles, Maria has wins over Prime 20 gamers Maria Sakkari of Greece, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.

Article content material

Article content material

Competing in her first Calgary Nationwide Financial institution Challenger is Rebecca Marino of Vancouver, the second-highest-ranked girls’s singles participant in Canada. A member of the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup-winning world championship squad, Marino has been ranked as excessive as No. 38 on this planet. She holds 15 ITF singles titles and was a finalist of a WTA 250 occasion. Marino has wins over Prime 10 gamers Venus Williams and Madison Keys of the U.S., and Caroline Garcia of France. She additionally reached the third spherical of the 2022 U.S. Open.

Canadian feminine gamers can be nicely represented on the event.

Becoming a member of Marino is 2023 finalist Stacey Fung of Vancouver (world No. 270), Carol Zhao of Toronto (234), Carson Branstine (275), who has additionally represented the U.S., and rising stars Kayla Cross of London, Ont. and Vicky Mboko, who was born within the U.S.

Native expertise may even be on show with 4 OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre members in motion.

Calgary’s Alexia Jacobs, a sophomore on the College of Washington who’s at the moment ranked 54th in NCAA singles and seventeenth in doubles, will compete for the third time.

Article content material

Fellow ATC member Cleeve Harper not too long ago accomplished his stellar profession on the College of Texas. Harper gained the 2022 NCAA doubles title and returned to the ultimate the next 12 months. Since turning skilled, Harper has excelled on the doubles tour, profitable his first ATP Challenger title in Dobrich, Bulgaria, with Draxl. Harper is ranked 279th on this planet amongst male doubles gamers.

ATC members Hailey Murphy (Texas Tech) and Tyler Waddock (Japanese Washington) have additionally been awarded qualifying wildcards in Calgary.

“This 12 months’s participant area is stuffed with younger worldwide and Canadian expertise. We’re thrilled to welcome worldwide stars like JJ Wolf, Tatjana Maria and Rebecca Marino in Calgary,” mentioned Da Costa.  “Attracting world-class expertise has all the time been our aim for the Challenger, however we’re equally excited to have 4 of our membership members at this 12 months’s occasion. Since 2016, our crew has achieved a fantastic job creating a few of Alberta’s high gamers, and we’re thrilled to have the ability to give alternatives for Albertans to compete in opposition to a few of the finest expertise on this planet.”

Article content material

Tennis followers will have the ability to watch 4 matches per day reside on CBC Sports activities YouTube Web page from Oct. 14-19 earlier than the singles finals are aired on CBC Gem.

“This marks the primary time a challenger occasion can be broadcasted reside in Canada, and we’re additionally thrilled to additionally have the ability to deliver tennis into smaller communities throughout Canada with Rogers TV,” mentioned Da Costa.

Rogers will broadcast 2 matches per day on Rogers TV in numerous markets throughout Canada.

All matches from the occasion can be streamed reside on the ATP Tour (Males) & ITF Tennis (Girls) web sites.

For extra info and tickets, go to calgary.nationalbankchallenger.com

Article content material