Liam Draxl kept his Road to the NBO push late, but the Newmarket-native clinched the 2026 National Bank Open presented by Rogers main-draw wildcard thanks to another impressive run at the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger.
Just a little more west, the World Tennis W35 Saskatoon Challenger featured an all-Canadian final, with Teah Chavez hoisting her first professional trophy.
ATP Challenger
Draxl was one-win short of successfully defending his Winnipeg title, but a second-straight trip to the final was more than enough to secure the Road to the NBO wildcard.
The Canadian No. 5 trailed Duncan Chan and Keegan Rice in the standings as all three players won their opening matches in the Manitoban capital. Chan and Rice both lost in three sets in round two, meaning that Draxl would clinch top spot in the Road to the NBO with at least a semifinal result.
The 24-year-old managed to beat fourth-seed August Holmgren in the second round, then defeated No. 6 seed Clement Chidekh in straight sets to reach the semis and punch his ticket into the 2026 National Bank Open main draw in Montreal.
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Sights then shifted to defending his title. Draxl upset top-seed Shintaro Mochizuki to bring him back into the Winnipeg final, dropping just three games against the Japanese. No. 2 seed Toby Samuel of Great Britain later spoiled the Canadian’s run as he dethroned Draxl, winning 6-4, 6-2 to earn the title.
W35
Last week’s domestic pro events still had a Canadian champion as Teah Chavez won her first World Tennis title, doing so in her home province.
The Regina-native was perfect through her first three matches at the W35 Saskatoon, not conceding a set in wins over the likes of No. 7 seed Erika Sema and second-seed Miho Kuramochi. Chavez dropped the opening set against third-seed Jia-Jing Lu in the semifinals, but turned things around to take the match 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.
In the top half of the draw, Ariana Arseneault was on a dominant run. The Richmond Hillian only conceded 20 games in her four matches en route to the final, taking down top-seed Lizetta Cabrera of Australia to set up an all-Canadian title match in Saskatoon.
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Arseneault carried her momentum into the early stages of the final, comfortably sealing the first set, but Chavez produced another comeback as she clinched the title with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory. The Ohio State Buckeye was the fourth Canadian singles champion at the event since 2022, with Victoria Mboko winning back-to-back from 2022-2023 and Kayla Cross hoisting the trophy in 2024.
Chavez nearly doubled up in her home province as well. She and her partner Scarlett Nicholson reached the doubles final, but the Canadian duo lost in a tight match tiebreaker to Americans Alyssa Ahn and Kaya Moe.
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Feature Photo: Sarah-Jade Champagne
