GATINEAU, July 4, 2018 (Press Release)

Tennis Canada announced Wednesday the list of players who will participate in the Gatineau National Bank Challenger. The tournament features a mixed draw, with the men competing in the $75,000 ATP Challenger event and the women competing in the $25,000 ITF Challenger event. The tournament will be held from July 14 to 22 at Parc de l’Île in Gatineau.

In the men’s draw, Peter Polansky (Thornhill, ON) will be the top seed. The Canadian in coming off a strong start to the year, which saw him reach the main draw of the first three Grand Slam events. He reached the finals at three Canadian Challenger tournaments last year in Winnipeg, Gatineau and Granby. Currently ranked a career high no. 110, Polansky is on the verge of breaking into the Top 100 for the first time in his career. He will be joined by Filip Peliwo (Vancouver, BC) and Brayden Schnur (Pickering, ON) in the main draw. Both payers fell short of qualifying for spots in the main draw at Wimbledon last week, with Schnur dropping a tight three-set match in the final round. Ranked no. 181 and 234 respectively, Peliwo and Schnur have had success on the ATP Challenger Tour, although they both lost early on at last year’s tournament. These players will be looking to make it a third year in a row that a Canadian player is crowned champion in Gatineau.

Katherine Sebov (Toronto, ON) is currently the lone Canadian in the women’s main draw. Currently ranked no. 268 in the world, she is still in search of her first professional title. The finalist at the 2017 Granby Challenger, Sebov has reached two semi-finals and one final since the start of the year. After stepping away from the game in 2013, Rebecca Marino (Vancouver, BC) is in the midst of a successful comeback. She won three consecutive titles to start the year and has climbed back into the Top 500 after starting her 2018 campaign without a ranking. She will be playing in Gatineau for the first time in her career. Three Canadian players have been granted Wild Cards into the main draw, Bianca Andreescu, Benjamin Sigouin and Alexis Galarneau. The rest of the men’s and women’s Wild Cards will be announced at a later date.

“Our Canadian players are currently experiencing success at the international level, with many of them going on deep runs in tournaments all across the world. We are hoping that they can continue their momentum into the upcoming string of Canadian Challenger tournaments, including here in Gatineau,” stated the Tournament Director Francis Milloy. “With tournaments like these, fans have the unique opportunity to cheer on some of our rising Canadian stars as they play at home.”

At the international level, there are a few names that may be familiar to the spectators in Gatineau, including Frenchman Vincent Millot who will be playing in this tournament for a third consecutive year, reaching the quarter-finals in 2017 and the semi-finals in 2016. The top seed in the women’s draw will be Arina Rodionova of Australia (no. 121) who holds nine singles titles on the professional circuit, including one she won earlier this year.

The Gatineau National Bank Challenger is the first of two mixed draw tournaments held in Quebec during the month of July. The tournament will be followed by the Granby National Bank Challenger.

Men’s entry list

110 Polansky, Peter (CAN)
119 Mmoh, Michael (USA)
123 Hurkacz, Hubert (POL)
147 Kubler, Jason (AUS)
159 King, Darian (BAR)
167 Ito, Tatsuma (JPN)
170 Klahn, Bradley (USA)
171 Rubin, Noah (USA)
175 Broady, Liam (GBR)
181 Soeda, Go (JPN)
184 Peliwo, Filip (CAN)
186 Gombos, Norbert (SVK)
200 Harrison, Christian (USA)
207 Escobedo, Ernesto (USA)
221 Krueger, Mitchell (USA)
235 Schnur, Brayden (CAN)
238 Uchiyama, Yasutaka (JPN)
250 Napolitano, Stefano (ITA)
264 Neuchrist, Maximilian (AUT)
270 Millot, Vincent (FRA)
273 Grigelis, Laurynas (LTU)
278 Li, Zhe (CHN)