Photo: Sarah-Jade Champagne
Tennis Canada confirmed today that the Granby National Bank Championships, which included a WTA 250 tournament in 2022, will revert to a combined Challenger event featuring an ATP Tour Challenger 100 and an ITF Women’s World Tennis Tour 100 competition. Held from July 16 to 23 at Tennis St-Luc, the Championships will offer higher prize money than in the past as they become Canada’s most competitive Challenger event of 2023.
“This summer, the Granby National Bank Championships are returning to their historic mission as a stepping stone for Canadian players seeking to embark on an international career, just like Milos Raonic, Eugenie Bouchard, Bianca Andreescu, Leylah Fernandez, Denis Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime did before them,” said Richard Quirion, Granby tournament director and director of Tennis Canada’s professional and international tournaments in Québec. “In 2022, we realized that our place in the WTA calendar forced Canadians to choose between our tournament and the US Open qualifying tournament, which wasn’t beneficial to the Championships or to our players in their quest for ranking points. Reverting to the Challenger format and offering higher prize money was the solution. More Canadian women will now have the opportunity to play, and that’s our priority.”
“Granby has been a tennis city for many years, and that’s why we’re very pleased to renew our commitment to Tennis Canada for the next Granby National Bank Championships. The tournament is a major event for our city, and we believe it’s important to pledge our support to organizers to ensure its success. The residents of Granby are proud of their tennis tournament, and they can count on the city to continue the tradition,” said Julie Bourdon, Mayor of Granby.
