The ATP Tour’s brightest stars have already RSVP’d to the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montréal, and the qualifying draw also promises to showcase high-level matches. On Thursday, Tennis Canada released the updated list of players who will be competing in the tournament’s earliest rounds on August 6 and 7 at IGA Stadium.
Among the contenders in the qualifying singles draw is No.42 Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland. He capped off last season at No.95 and has been playing remarkable tennis ever since, reaching the final in Pune, the semifinals in Melbourne and the quarterfinals in Munich and at the Queen’s Club in London. At his very first appearance at the Canadian Open in 2021, he found his way to the third round, where he lost to Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.
Ruusuvuori isn’t the only member of the Top 50 in the mix. He’ll be joined by No.47 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands and No.49 Brandon Nakashima (49th) of the United States, who’ll also be making their Canadian debuts. This season, Grieskpoor was a quarterfinalist in Melbourne, Geneva and Majorca. As for Nakashima, the 20-year-old NextGenATP headliner has already overpowered four Top 50 players in 2022, including Denis Shapovalov in the second round of Wimbledon [6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(6)].
“Of all the international tournaments, ours is very fortunate to feature such an excellent field of qualifiers year after year,” said Eugène Lapierre, tournament director of the National Bank Open in Montréal. “I always find it extraordinary to welcome players who are sometimes seeded at other tournaments on our opening weekend. At the end of the day, it’s a win for our fans, who get to see exceptional tennis matches from the first to the last day of our event.”
Goffin and Fognini return to Montreal
Several other players could shake up the draw, including No. 61 Fabio Fognini (Italy), No. 67 David Goffin (Belgium) and No. 68 Alejandro Tabilo (Chile). Fognini and Goffin are former members of the Top 10 with nine and six ATP titles, respectively. Goffin could be coming into Montréal with a lot confidence after his quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon following his wins over Frances Tiafoe of the US (then No.28) and Sebastian Baez of Argentina (then No.35). Tabilo, a Toronto native, is on the rise after starting the season at No.129. He made it to the final in Cordoba, the semifinals in Santiago and the quarterfinals in Munich.
The full qualifying list :
- RUUSUVUORI, Emil FIN 42
- GRIEKSPOOR, Tallon NED 47
- NAKASHIMA, Brandon USA 49
- MCDONALD, Mackenzie USA 51
- IVASHKA, Ilya – 53
- GIRON, Marcos USA 54
- RINDERKNECH, Arthur FRA 55
- ALTMAIER, Daniel GER 56
- SOUSA, Joao POR 58
- GASTON, Hugo FRA 59
- SONEGO, Lorenzo ITA 60
- FOGNINI, Fabio ITA 61
- MUSETTI, Lorenzo ITA 62
- DUCKWORTH, James AUS 66
- GOFFIN, David BEL 67
- TABILO, Alejandro CHI 68
- GARIN, Cristian CHI 70
- KOKKINAKIS, Thanasi AUS 73
- LAJOVIC, Dusan SRB 75
- KWON, Soonwoo KOR 77
- HALYS, Quentin FRA 79
- Special Exempt / Exemption spéciale
- Special Exempt / Exemption spéciale
- Special Exempt / Exemption spéciale
- Wild Card / Laissez-passer (WC)
- Wild Card / Laissez-passer (WC)
- Wild Card / Laissez-passer (WC)
Note: wildcards (TBA) will complete the qualifying draw.
iga family weekend
Now that the National Bank Open presented by Rogers is back on track, the tournament is thrilled to host the ever-popular IGA Family Weekend in association with Maple Leaf Foods and VIA Rail Canada from Friday, August 5 to Sunday, August 7. The IGA Family Weekend provides free access to the site during the first three days of the tournament and the opportunity to watch qualifying matches and training sessions on practice courts with the best players in the world. In addition to the tennis, the activities will include a ball hockey showdown between ATP and NHL stars and a friendly soccer match with representatives from CF Montréal.
To be part of IGA Family Weekend, fans must reserve their free tickets ahead of time by going to the tournament website. Click here for more information and the full weekend program.
tickets for the national bank open
IGA Stadium is selling out fast, but there are still a few tickets left for each session. With the vast majority of the ATP Top 50 in attendance, the National Bank Open in Montréal is ready for an exceptional draw.
Click here to reserve your tickets.
