The first of July’s three Canadian professional events concluded on Sunday in Laval, QC, with Canadian Duncan Chan and his partner Cooper Woestendick of the U.S. winning in doubles while Jamaican Blaise Bicknell defeated another Canadian, Justin Boulais, in a tight three-setter in the singles final.
The doubles final nearly featured a trio of Canucks as the other semifinal match featured the all-Canadian team of Adam Farag-Cao and Keegan Rice, but the teenage duo lost to No. 2 seeds Alafia Ayeni and Ethan Cook. Chan and Woestendick upset the No. 4 seeded Americans Pranav Kumar and Daniel Milavsky in the final four.
In the final, the Canadian-American team won a tight opening set tiebreak before scoring a bagel to secure the title in straight sets. The duo did not drop a set throughout the tournament.
The Calgary-native also competed in singles but lost to his doubles partner Woestendick in the quarter-finals. Fellow Canadians Nicolas Arseneault and Rice also lost in the quarter-final of the singles draw as well, while Boulais went on a dominant run but was unable to clinch the Laval title.
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The 23-year-old from Oakville dropped just one set en route to the final, beating No. 4 seed Aidan McHugh in the semis, having also upset No. 2 seed Garrett Johns in the second round.
Boulais’ final opponent, Bicknell, had also not dropped a set in the tournament until the 23-year-old lost the opener to the Canadian 6-3. The Jamaican then won two-straight tiebreaks to secure his third-career title and his second in Laval in the last three years.
Despite losing out in the final, Boulais made a significant jump in the Road to the NBO standings. The ITF world No. 184 earned 32 points to move up to second, one point ahead of Alexis Galarneau and 37 behind Liam Draxl. The winner of the Road to the NBO gets a main-draw wildcard for the 2025 National Bank Open later this month in Toronto.
Arseneault, Rice, and Chan added six points to their Road to NBO tally after their quarter-final finishes as Arseneault moved up two spots to fourth.
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The next tournament on the Canadian calendar is the ATP Challenger event in Winnipeg where Draxl, Boulais and Galarneau are among the Canucks in the singles draw.
Feature Photo: Pavel Lisovtsev
