Liam Draxl was the standout Canadian at the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger last week, earning his first singles title of 2025. The 23-year-old clinched the Road to the NBO wildcard with the tournament win.
Draxl was the only Canuck to reach at least the quarter-final of the singles draw after four of the six Canadians were eliminated in their opening match.
Nicolas Arseneault was the only other Canadian to reach the round of 16, defeating countryman Juan Carlos Aguliar in the first round, but lost to No. 6 seed Rio Noguchi in his second match.
After the second round, Draxl dropped just nine games en route to the final when the Newmarket-native went up against No. 1 seed Alexander Blockx.
The Belgian took the opener in dominant fashion but, undeterred, Draxl converted on all three of his break points across the second and third sets to take the match 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
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The Canadian secured a wildcard spot at this year’s National Bank Open in Toronto after extending his lead a top of the Road to the NBO standings. Draxl sits an insurmountable 187 points (only 150 points are still available) ahead of Laval finalist Justin Boulais, who lost in the first round in Winnipeg alongside third-place Alexis Galarneau. Arseneault jumped to fourth in the standings with his result in the Manitoban capital, two points behind Boulais.
Draxl also reached the quarter-final in the doubles draw, entering as the first seed with Ecuadorian Andres Andrade. The duo lost to Canucks Benjamin Thomas George and Alvin Tudorica before the all-Canadian team lost to eventual champions Keshav Chopra and Andres Martin in the semifinal.
The all-American team defeated Naoki Nakagawa of Japan and Kris van Wyk of South Africa in three sets to hoist the trophy in Winnipeg.
The final Canadian professional event before the National Bank Open takes place in Quebec for Les Championnats Banque Nationale de Granby this week.
Feature Photo: @wpgnbchallenger
