MONTREAL, July 22, 2022 (Tennis Canada Press Release)
The ATP Tour’s brightest stars have already RSVP’d to the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Montréal, and the qualifying draw also promises to showcase high-level matches. On Thursday, Tennis Canada released the updated list of players who will be competing in the tournament’s earliest rounds on August 6 and 7 at IGA Stadium. Among the contenders in the qualifying singles draw is No. 42 Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland. He capped off last season at No.95 and has been playing remarkable tennis ever since, reaching the final in Pune, the semifinals in Melbourne and the quarterfinals in Munich and at the Queen’s Club in London. At his very first appearance at the Canadian Open in 2021, he found his way to the third round, where he lost to Dusan Lajovic of Serbia. Ruusuvuori isn’t the only member of the Top 50 in the mix. He’ll be joined by No. 47 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands and No. 49 Brandon Nakashima of the United States, who’ll also be making their Canadian debuts. This season, Grieskpoor was a quarterfinalist in Melbourne, Geneva and Majorca. As for Nakashima, the 20-year-old NextGenATP headliner has already overpowered four Top 50 players in 2022, including Denis Shapovalov in the second round of Wimbledon [6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(6)].
“Of all the international tournaments, ours is very fortunate to feature such an excellent field of qualifiers year after year,” said Eugène Lapierre, tournament director of the National Bank Open in Montréal. “I always find it extraordinary to welcome players who are sometimes seeded at other tournaments on our opening weekend. At the end of the day, it’s a win for our fans, who get to see exceptional tennis matches from the first to the last day of our event.”
Goffin and Fognini return to Montreal
Several other players could shake up the draw, including No. 61 Fabio Fognini (Italy), No. 67 David Goffin (Belgium) and No. 68 Alejandro Tabilo (Chile). Fognini and Goffin are former members of the Top 10 with nine and six ATP titles, respectively. Goffin could be coming into Montréal with a lot confidence after his quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon following his wins over Frances Tiafoe of the US (then No.28) and Sebastian Baez of Argentina (then No.35). Tabilo, a Toronto native, is on the rise after starting the season at No.129. He made it to the final in Cordoba, the semifinals in Santiago and the quarterfinals in Munich.
For the full qualifying list, please click here.
