MONTREAL, July 4, 2017 (Tennis Canada Press Release)

Félix Auger-Aliassime from Montreal and Denis Shapovalov from Richmond Hill both announced their withdrawal from the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger on Tuesday. The $75,000 tournament will be played at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club from July 8-16, 2017.

Denis Shapovalov, who has had a busy schedule over the past few weeks, had to pull out of the Winnipeg Challenger in order to recover before resuming play and beginning his hard court season. In recent weeks, the 18-year-old Ontario native qualified for the main draw of the ATP 500 tournament in Queen’s, defeating Kyle Edmund of Great Britain before losing in a tight three set match to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. He then received a wild card for the main draw at Wimbledon, where he bowed out in the first round yesterday. Shapovalov’s next tournaments will be the Challenger events in Gatineau and Granby.

“The past few weeks have been busier than I had initially anticipated and I have had to slightly alter my plans,” stated Shapovalov. “I will take a few days off in order to recover and to prepare for the upcoming hard court season. I would like to wish the fans in Winnipeg a very successful tournament and I hope to see them next year.”

For his part, Félix Auger-Aliassime, who recently became the seventh youngest player in history to win a title on the ATP Challenger Tour at the Open de Sopra Steria in Lyon, was forced to withdraw due to an injury to his left wrist. He will also miss the Challenger events in Gatineau and Granby to ensure that he is fully recovered before resuming his season in August.

“I am obviously very disappointed to have to stay on the sidelines for a few weeks, especially since I always enjoy playing at home,” said Auger-Aliassime. “However, I have to listen to my body so that I can get back to 100% for the final leg of the season. I wish great success to the various organizing committees and I hope to be able to come back and compete in these tournaments next year.”