TORONTO, November 4, 2024 (Tennis Canada Press Release)
The Tevlin Challenger concluded on Sunday with No. 5 seed Louisa Chirico of the United States crowned singles champion after she beat Canadian Kayla Cross in the final at Sobeys Stadium.
At 28 years old, the former No. 58-ranked Chirico lost only one set on her path to the title, which was in the first round against Croatian Petra Marcinko. She then defeated Canadian and 2024-25 National Tennis Centre presented by Rogers (NTC) transition athlete Ariana Arsenault 6-3, 6-4, and Romanian Gabriela Lee 6-3, 6-3 to secure her spot in the semi-finals. There, Chirico triumphed over France’s Julie Belgraver, who had recently won the Edmonton National Bank Challenger, by a score of 7-6(7), 6-3. Chirico had also lifted a trophy earlier this season at a ITF World Tennis Tour W75 tournament in the United States.
Also part of the NTC 2024-25 transition group, 19-year-old Cross is currently ranked No. 312 in the world and is enjoying a terrific year. She reached her first professional final at the Granby National Bank Championships and won her first professional title in a W35 tournament in Saskatoon. On her way to the final at the Tevlin Challenger, she also lost only one set, in the semi-finals against Slovak Viktoria Hruncakova having advanced via a walkover following the withdrawal of fellow Canadian Katherine Sebov in the quarter-finals. In her opening two matches, she won 6-4, 6-2 against Japanese qualifier Ayumi Koshiishi and defeated No. 4 seed, Lithuanian Justina Mikulskyte, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5).
In the final, Chirico won 7-6(5), 6-3 to claim the trophy. “I’m pretty happy with how I competed this week,” she said. “I think there were a bunch of really tough matches. Pretty much every match I played was not easy, and there are a lot of great players here. So, I’m really happy to get the win.”
In Saturday’s doubles final, the No. 2-seeded pairing of American Jamie Loeb and Mikulskyte, who teamed up for the first time this week, triumphed over Belgraver and the Netherlands’ Jasmijn Gimbrere 6-2, 6-1. The latter had eliminated Canadians Cross and Arsenault in the semi-finals, winning a decisive tiebreak 10-7 to earn their place in the final.
“I think it was the best [Tevlin Challenger] ever,” said Mike Tevlin, long-time donor and former board member. “This has been going on since 2006. Today, there are probably ten challengers going on somewhere in the world, but this is the one that means the most to us. I saw the best week of tennis I’ve seen. I think the depth is changing so much that the level of tennis was the best we’ve seen.”
Click here to see the completed draw from the Tevlin Challenger.
