The first Canadian pro events of 2026 get underway in the province of Quebec on Tuesday, with some added focus on the Road to the NBO wild card.
Ariana Arseneault enters the W15 Trois-Rivières as the top seed in a singles draw that features 12 Canadians. The Richmond Hillian opens the event against one of her countrywomen as she faces U16 Outdoor Nationals champion Andrea Cabio in round one.
If Arseneault can claim her maiden ITF singles title in Trois-Rivières, she’ll go seven points back of current Road to the NBO leader Katherine Sebov.
The bottom half of the draw has two Canadian seeds, one who is also involved in an all-Canadian matchup in round one. Seventh-seed Ana Grubor takes on 18-year-old qualifier Anissa Saada – her ITF main-draw debut.
Alexandra Vagramov enters a seed higher than Grubor at No. 6. The New-Westminster native begins singles play against Sabastiani Leon of Mexico and, if victorious, she will meet either 17-year-old Canadian Isabella Marton or Khrystyna Vozniak of Ukraine in round two.
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Arseneault leads the Trois-Rivières field in doubles as well, alongside Esther Adeshina of Great Britain. The top seeds already cruised to a first-round win.
Vagramov and American Dasha Ivanova are the second seeds, also starting off with a comfortable opening-match victory. Cabio and Nadia Lagaev will meet the No. 2 seeds in the second round following their straight-sets win over fellow Canadian Juniors Laurence Demers and Andrea Taylor in round one.
M15 Sherbrooke
The M15 Sherbrooke also has a Canadian top seed as Dan Martin tries to close the gap in the Road to the NBO standings.
The Lavallois still awaits his first-round opponent but needs the title if he were to gain some ground on leader Duncan Chan, who is currently 34 points ahead. Martin has yet to hoist an ITF singles trophy on home soil, winning his second-career event last year in Villahermosa.
In the same half of the draw is eighth-seed Alvin Nicholas Tudorica, the only other seeded Canadian in singles. The Torontonian faces American Gavin Young in round one.
With a total of eight Canucks in the main draw, Sherbrooke is guaranteed a ninth as Joshua Peck and Antoine Clavel battle in the final round of qualifying on Tuesday. Canadians Alexandru Toubi Hebhang Balan and Cadence Benchetrit are also one win away from a place in the main draw, both competing against Americans in their final-qualifying match.
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In doubles, Tudorica is the only Canadian seed alongside Rares Teodor Pieleanu of Romania. The No. 2 seeds’ opening match is against Canadian Nicaise Muamba and Reece Falck of New Zealand.
National Tennis Centre presented by Rogers members Caden Colburne and Antoine Généreux have the chance to pull off an upset in round one as the teens take on top seeds Billy Suarez of the United States and Jesse Flores of Costa Rica.
Feature Photo: Sarah-Jade Champagne
