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The thrilling stretch {of professional} tennis continues in Western Canada this week, as gamers now shift their sights from Edmonton to the Calgary Nationwide Financial institution Challenger.
The joint males’s and ladies’s occasion returns for its fifth yr and options a number of high-profile Canadians within the area, together with former Wimbledon doubles champion Vasek Pospisil and esteemed veteran Rebecca Marino.
Draxl seems to defend largest win, Pospisil is again
Liam Draxl is using a wave of confidence after a flawless week of tennis in Edmonton.
The 22-year-old from Newmarket tore via the attract singles, profitable all 5 of his matches in straight units, and paired up with fellow Canadian Cleeve Harper to additionally declare the doubles crown.
He’s set to defend his title this week in Calgary. Draxl was topped champion final yr, upsetting world No. 81 Dominik Koepfer within the closing to win his first profession ATP Challenger. The Canadian is seeded seventh this week in Alberta.
In the meantime, Vasek Pospisil might be competing in his first common tour occasion since August, when he retired on the Nationwide Financial institution Open with a again damage, though he did play throughout the Davis Cup Group Stage in September. The 34-year-old veteran shouldn’t be solely a former Grand Slam champion in doubles, he’s additionally a Davis Cup winner with Canada, and has been ranked as excessive as No. 25 in singles.
Alexis Galarneau can also be competing in Calgary and is hoping to construct off a quarter-finals run on the ATP Challenger in Fairfield final week. The 25-year-old has one Challenger title to his title and reached the finals of the Ciudad de Mexico Challenger on clay earlier this season. He opened his event this week with an upset victory over American J.J. Wolf on Monday.
Maks Kasinowski of Tunisia is the highest seed within the draw, whereas former Wimbledon quarter-finalist Bernard Tomic can also be in motion.
Marino leads Canadian cost, Maria is No. 1 seed
Rebecca Marino is the best ranked Canadian participant this week in Calgary, and the world No. 136 has been displaying robust type of late on the circuit. The 33-year-old reached back-to-back quarter-finals at ITF occasions within the US, and completed runner-up in doubles in Templeton, California. The 15-time ITF singles winner, who’s set to represent Canada at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals this Fall, is seeded second this week.
In complete, there are eight Canadians within the singles draw.
Tatjana Maria is the primary seed within the ladies’s area and the artful German will carry her nice pedigree and expertise to Alberta. Maria has received three WTA singles titles and was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2022.
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