Next summer, Laval University will host Canada's toughest tournament since the National Bank Open. The Challenger ATP 125 competition will take place from August 17 to 23 at PEPS, which is shortly before the US Open.
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Tennis Canada and Université Laval described the meeting as “essential for players looking to complete their preparations for the prestigious tournament in Flushing Meadows.”
Since it will take place in the second week of the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati, it is possible that some players in the top 50 or even the top 30 who were eliminated early in the tournament will travel to Quebec to play a few more matches before New York.
“I’ll give you a very simple example: this year we saw a certain Felix Auger-Aliassime play in a tournament of this category in Portugal after losing the Masters 1000 in Madrid,” said Valérie Tétrault, director of the National Bank of the Montreal Open, at a press conference on Tuesday.
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Challenger 125 is the sixth largest ATP tournament category.
This is mainly a springboard for young people on the rise, but we also find experienced players recovering from injury among the registered players. The total scholarship amount is US$250,000 (approximately C$350,000).
“Quebec has a lot to offer”
After women's tennis returned to Quebec last week after a seven-year absence, men's tennis returns to PEPS for the first time since the end of the National Bank Cup in 2018.
“We have worked very hard on this application and we have the opportunity to host this event within the next two years,” said Julie Dionne, director of the Faculty of Sports Activities at Université Laval. Let’s look at the future based on the quality of our work.”
The organization of this tournament is a “guarantee of trust” from Tennis Canada and the ATP to Laval University, noted M.to me Tetro.
This comes as the university's new outdoor tennis complex opens next June, just two months before the event.
But there was no time to waste when the ATP issued a tender for the new event last summer. “If we waited until 2027, there would be no guarantee that the tournament could be moved to Quebec,” said Valerie Tétrault.
And for the former player who competed in the National Bank Cup, then called the Quebec Bell Challenge, Quebec “deserved this event” at the time.
“Thanks to the various academies in the city, there are a lot of players being developed here,” she noted, mentioning in particular Felix Auger-Aliassime.
“Quebec also has a lot to offer as a city,” she continued. During the years I played, the WTA tournament was the event of the year because the players loved coming to Quebec.”
Tickets on sale in December
Tickets for the event will go on sale in December, M. said.to me Dionne, at a price yet to be determined.
Mayor Bruno Marchand, for his part, said on Tuesday that access to the qualifications will be free thanks to the city's contribution.
Five courts of the new center will be used during the event. The center should accommodate 1000 spectators.
A list of registrants will be released about a month before the event, and it is possible that more participants will be added shortly before the launch, depending on results in Cincinnati.
