Calgary National Bank Challenger draws Canadian, international stars

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This year’s Calgary National Bank Challenger features a healthy mix of Canadian and young international tennis talent.

Tournament director Danny Da Costa has announced the lineup for the event, which runs Oct. 13-20 at the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre.

Rising American star J.J. Wolf, who was ranked 39 in the world in 2023, is one of the headliners in the men’s draw. Wolf reached the round of 16 at the 2023 Australian Open and has wins over Top 20 players Cam Norrie of Great Britain, Frances Tiafoe of the United States and Canada’s Denis Shapovalov.

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Joining Wolf is former world No. 17 Bernard Tomic of Australia and 2018 Calgary National Bank Challenger semifinalist Borna Gojo of Croatia, who was ranked as high as 75th a year ago, and rising star Maks Kasnikowski of Poland. The men’s draw features three Top 200 players.

This year’s draw also features two members of Canada’s 2024 Davis Cup team. Vasek Pospisil, a former world No. 25 and a 2014 Wimbledon doubles champion, helped lead Canada to its first Davis Cup title in 2022. Joining him is Montreal’s Alexis Galarneau, who will make his fourth appearance in Calgary. He won the Grandy, Que., Challenger title in 2023.

Defending Calgary champion Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., will make his third appearance in the tournament. The former No. 1-ranked NCAA singles player defeated Dominik Koepfer in last year’s final.

The women’s event is headlined by Tatjana Maria of Germany, a 2018 Wimbledon singles quarterfinalist and former world No. 42 who is now ranked 85th. A holder of three WTA Tour titles, Maria has wins over Top 20 players Maria Sakkari of Greece, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.

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Competing in her first Calgary National Bank Challenger is Rebecca Marino of Vancouver, the second-highest-ranked women’s singles player in Canada. A member of the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup-winning world championship squad, Marino has been ranked as high as No. 38 in the world. She holds 15 ITF singles titles and was a finalist of a WTA 250 event. Marino has wins over Top 10 players Venus Williams and Madison Keys of the U.S., and Caroline Garcia of France. She also reached the third round of the 2022 U.S. Open.

Canadian female players will be well represented at the tournament.

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

Local talent will also be on display with four OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre members in action.

Calgary’s Alexia Jacobs, a sophomore at the University of Washington who’s currently ranked 54th in NCAA singles and 17th in doubles, will compete for the third time.

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Fellow ATC member Cleeve Harper recently completed his stellar career at the University of Texas. Harper won the 2022 NCAA doubles title and returned to the final the following year. Since turning professional, Harper has excelled on the doubles tour, winning his first ATP Challenger title in Dobrich, Bulgaria, with Draxl. Harper is ranked 279th in the world among male doubles players.

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

“This year’s player field is full of young international and Canadian talent. We are thrilled to welcome international stars like JJ Wolf, Tatjana Maria and Rebecca Marino in Calgary,” said Da Costa.  “Attracting world-class talent has always been our goal for the Challenger, but we are equally excited to have four of our club members at this year’s event. Since 2016, our team has done a great job developing some of Alberta’s top players, and we are thrilled to be able to give opportunities for Albertans to compete against some of the best talent in the world.”

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Tennis fans will be able to watch four matches per day live on CBC Sports YouTube Page from Oct. 14-19 before the singles finals are aired on CBC Gem.

“This marks the first time a challenger event will be broadcasted live in Canada, and we are also thrilled to also be able to bring tennis into smaller communities across Canada with Rogers TV,” said Da Costa.

Rogers will broadcast 2 matches per day on Rogers TV in various markets across Canada.

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

For more information and tickets, visit calgary.nationalbankchallenger.com

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