The men’s Road to the NBO wildcard will be decided at the final event of the competition, with Keegan Rice, Duncan Chan, and Liam Draxl all part of the main draw at the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger presented by MBuilds.
While the women’s wildcard was settled in Granby thanks to Kayla Cross’ title run, Saskatoon looks to host a second-consecutive Canadian champion at the World Tennis W35 event.
ATP Challenger
Only one point separated Road to the NBO leader Rice and second-place Chan heading into Winnipeg, while Draxl sat just eight-points back of first.
Rice grabbed top spot in the standings largely thanks to his first World Tennis final in Laval, and now has a tricky opening match in Winnipeg against compatriot Nicolas Arseneault, who won in his National Bank Open presented by Rogers main-draw debut last year.
Chan was nearly out of Road to the NBO contention as he found himself a set down in the final round of Winnipeg qualifying. However, the Markhamite came back to keep himself alive and now sits seven-points clear by qualifying for the main draw.
The 20-year-old opens against James McCabe of Australia and, if victorious, he may have to upset top-seed Shintaro Mochizuki of Japan in round two. If Chan can’t get past his opening match, he will hope that Rice is ousted in the same round and Draxl fails to reach the quarter-finals.
Draxl will have the fondest memories of the event though, having won the Road to the NBO last year after securing the Winnipeg title. On this occasion, the Canadian No. 5 will need some help if he were to clinch the wildcard again in the Manitoban capital.
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The Newmarket-native will firstly have to get by British qualifier Millen Hurrion in round one, then potentially No. 4 seed August Holmgren in the round of 16. Exits prior to the quarters for Rice and Chan will mean that Draxl can secure the Road to the NBO wildcard for the second-straight time by making the last eight.
W35
The Saskatoon Challenger features 17 Canadians in the singles main draw, looking to follow Cross’ title in Granby last week.
Ariana Arseneault is the highest-seeded Canuck at No. 4, beginning the tournament against countrywoman Clemence Mercier. Round two is also guaranteed to have at least one all-Canadian clash as Arseneault or Mercier will meet either Mariya Dobreva or Annabelle Xu.
Read also: Cross Secures Women’s Road to NBO Wildcard with Granby Title
No. 8 seed Ana Grubor is the only other Canadian among the seeds in Saskatoon. The Torontonian opens against 17-year-old compatriot Abigeyle Bhopal, with the winner potentially playing Canada’s No. 1 junior Nadia Lagaev in the second round.
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Feature Photo: Sarah-Jade Champagne
