Home   News   STAR STUDDED FIELD ANNOUNCED FOR CALGARY NATIONAL BANK CHALLENGER EVENT

STAR STUDDED FIELD ANNOUNCED FOR CALGARY NATIONAL BANK CHALLENGER EVENT

Oct 24, 2022

Canada’s Tennis Stars Eugenie Bouchard and Vasek Pospisil and Germany’s Sabine Lisicki among players competing

CALGARY (AB) – October 24, 2022 – Calgary National Bank Challenger Tournament Director, Danny Da Costa announced a star-studded line-up today for the upcoming tournament taking place November 6 to 13, 2022 at the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre.

Headlining the player announcement was the surprise addition of former World #5 and 2014 Wimbledon Singles Finalist Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal. Bouchard has established herself as one of the most recognizable athletes in the world with wins over former world #1 players including Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki. She has also reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and French Open in 2014. Bouchard returned to the WTA Tour this summer following shoulder surgery.

“I’m looking forward to playing at the Calgary National Bank Challenger. I always enjoy playing at home in front of my Canadian tennis fans. I heard a lot of great things about the Calgary event, and I am looking forward to having a strong finish to my year”, said Eugenie Bouchard.

Joining Bouchard in the main draw of the inaugural Calgary women’s event is Sabine Lisicki of Germany. Lisicki was a former World #12 singles player and 2013 Wimbledon Singles Finalist. Holder of four WTA Tour titles, the German athlete has defeated world #1 players Serena & Venus Williams, Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova.

The Women’s field also includes 11 top 200 players including Sweden’s Mirjam Bjorklund (136 WTA), England’s Jodie Anna Burrage (141 WTA), and Italy’s Lucrezia Stefanini (143 WTA). Sixteen-year-old Czech prodigy Sara Bejlek (192 WTA) will also be making the trip to Calgary,  along with several young Canadian players including Montreal’s Katherine Sebov and several other Canadian players to be added via the qualifying event.

On the Men’s side, the tournament will be headlined once again by Canadian Tennis star Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, BC. The current Canadian #3 and Former World 25 is a 2014 Wimbledon Doubles Champion. Currently ranked 121 in the World, Pospisil has wins over Danill Medvedev, Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov, Felix Auger-Alaissime and Richard Gasquet in his career. He led Canada to the 2019 Davis Cup Final.

Five Top 200 men’s player’s will be competing in this year’s event including Ecuador’s Emilio Gomez (105 ATP). Gomez is the son of former Grand Slam Champion and World #4 Andres Gomez. Also playing are, Argentina’s Juan Pablo Ficovich (143 ATP), Australia’s Aleksander Vukic (150 ATP) and Germany’s Dominik Koepfer (ATP 173), a former Top 50 player. Fans will also get to cheer on several Canadian players including, Alexis Galarneau (218 ATP) and young-star Gabriel Diallo (250 ATP).

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of Former World #4 Kei Nishikori’s withdrawal from the event due to an injury setback preventing him from competing.

Local talent will also be on display with OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre members and Calgary’s Alexia Jacobs competing in her first professional event, while Calgary’s Cleeve Harper will compete in the Men’s event. Harper is the 2022 NCAA Doubles Champion and participated in the National Bank Open this past summer.

“We are very excited to have world class talent like Eugenie Bouchard, Vasek Pospisil and Sabine Lisicki, as well as emerging talent like Canada’s Gabriel Diallo, Czech Republic’s Sara Bejlek and France’s Harold Mayot, playing in this year’s event”, said Danny Da Costa, Tournament Director for the Calgary National Bank Challenger. “This is a once in a life-time opportunity to see some of the best up-and-coming and established stars right here in Calgary.”

To view the Full Entry List for the Calgary National Bank Challenger Men’s & Women’s Event click here.

All matches from the event will be streamed live on the ATP Tour (Men) & ITF Tennis (Women) Websites.

For more information and to purchase tickets visit: www.calgary.nationalbankchallenger.com.

 

ABOUT THE CALGARY NATIONAL BANK CHALLENGER

The Calgary National Bank Challenger is the only combined men’s & women’s indoor tennis tournament in Canada. In two years, the Calgary National Bank Challenger has quickly emerged as one of the best ATP Challenger events in the world and one of Alberta’s premier sporting events. In 2022, the Challenger will host our inaugural International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s Pro Circuit $60K Event featuring many of the best up-and-coming and established female players in the world.

 

ABOUT NATIONAL BANK CHALLENGER TOURNAMENTS

The Calgary National Bank Challenger is among several tournaments in the Challenger circuit sponsored by National Bank in Canada. Aiming to support the development of the international elite, the professional tournaments provide Canadian athletes with their first experiences on the Tours and the opportunity to earn valuable points to move up in the world rankings. Over the years, the National Bank Challenger tournaments have served as a springboard for players including Canadian stars Félix Auger-Aliassime, Leylah Annie Fernandez, Denis Shapovalov and Bianca Andreescu, as well as Casper Ruud, Maxime Cressy and John Isner of the US, Daniel Evans of the UK, Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki of Germany and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.

 

OSTEN & VICTOR ALBERTA TENNIS CENTRE

The OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre is one of Canada’s premier tennis facilities and has quickly gained a reputation as one of the best tennis facilities in North America. The community-based, state-of-the-art, family friendly tennis facility located just off one of Calgary’s main routes, MacLeod Trail, is located in the heart of Acadia (SE Calgary) and covers 71,000 square feet, over 3.19 acres. The OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre opened in the spring of 2016 to critical acclaim and is championed by local funders with the support of Tennis Canada. The $13 million-dollar, non-profit tennis centre has quickly established itself as the benchmark for facility design and operation in Canada and won the Tennis Canada Facility Excellence Award (Indoor Facility of the Year) in 2017. The tennis Centre welcomed over 150,000 people since opening its doors in 2016 and has introduced the game of tennis to thousands of Calgarians since opening. The tennis Centre has been built to international competition standards and is considered the most technologically advanced tennis Centre in Canada and is among the most technologically advanced Centres in the world. It is a highly sought-after tournament destination and hosts multiple international events each year, including the Calgary National Bank Challenger ATP event.

 

Media Contact:

Rebecca Hurl
Brookline Public Relations, Inc.

403-818-6918

rhurl@brooklinepr.com