Calgary National Bank Challenger Announces Three Members of Canada’s Davis Cup Winning Team to Play in This Year's Tournament
Canadian tennis star Vasek Pospisil, Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau among Canadian players to compete in Calgary from November 5-12, 2023
CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Calgary National Bank Challenger ("The Challenger" or "The Tournament") Tournament Director and CEO of the OSTEN & VICTOR Tennis Centre (ATC) Danny Da Costa, announced three of Canada’s 2022 World Championship winning Davis Cup Team will compete at this year's event. The Challenger is taking place at the ATC from November 5-12, 2023.Canadian Tennis Star, *Vasek Pospisil* will return to the Calgary National Bank Challenger for the third consecutive year. Pospisil, who has been ranked as high as Number 25 in the world in singles and number four in doubles, was named Postmedia's Male Athlete of the Year for 2019 and is currently ranked No. 287 in the world on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. Pospisil has wins over Top 20 players Daniil Medvedev, Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, Grigor Dimitrov, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Richard Gasquet. He has also been in the finals of three ATP Tour events, including two ATP Tour 250 events in 2020 (Sofia & Montpellier) and an ATP Tour 500 event in Washington in 2014. Pospisil has also captured seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour.
Also returning to the event was 2022 Calgary National Bank Challenger Singles Semi-Finalist *Gabriel Diallo* of Montreal. Diallo, 22, is a rising star on the ATP World Tour. Currently ranked No. 130 in the world. Diallo recently starred for Canada at the Davis Cup event in September 2023, where he defeated Lorenzo Musetti (world No. 18). Earlier this year, Diallo defeated Daniel Evans (world No. 21) in the opening round of the National Bank Open. Last week he defeated Former World No.3 and 2020 US Open Champion Dominic Thiem enroute to winning his second ATP Challenger title at the Bratislava Challenger.
The third member of Canada’s Davis Cup team to participate in Calgary will be *Alexis Galarneau, *24, of Montreal. Galarneau will compete in his fourth Calgary National Bank Challenger. Currently ranked No.186 in the world, Galarneau played a starring role for Canada at the recent Davis Cup Finals Group Event in September. Galarneau was 5-0 during the event and defeated World No. 38 Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in their opening tie. Galarneau recently reached the finals of the Columbus Challenger and earlier this year he won Granby Challenger for his first Challenger title of his career.
The trio of Canadians will be joined by international tennis stars Sabine Lisicki of Germany, a former World No. 12 and Wimbledon Singles Finalist. Former Top 30 player, *Urszula Radwanska* of Poland and Former World No. 18, *Benoit Paire* of France. The full list of players will be announced October 23 at 10:30 a.m. MT at the Core Shopping Centre.“We are excited to welcome three of Canada’s top male players to the Calgary National Bank Challenger," says Danny Da Costa, Tournament Director. "Pospisil, Diallo and Galarneau are all world-class players who have played a leading role in Canada’s Davis Cup winning team in 2022.”
Tickets for The Challenger are available to purchase for as little as $30.00 per day. For more information about the event or to purchase tickets, visit www.calgary.nationalbankchallenger.com.
For more information about the ATC, please visit http://www.albertatenniscentre.ca/.
*ABOUT THE CALGARY NATIONAL BANK CHALLENGER: *
The Calgary National Bank Challenger is the largest combined men's & women's indoor tennis tournament in Canada. The Calgary National Bank Challenger has quickly emerged as one of the best ATP Challenger events in the world and one of Alberta's premier sporting events. In 2022, the Challenger hosted our inaugural International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women's Pro Circuit $60K Event featuring many of the best up-and-coming and established female players in the world. In 2023, the Calgary National Bank Challenger became the first International Tennis Federation W60 event in Canada to offer paid hospitality to female players.
Past participants of the Calgary National Bank Challenger event include: Former World #2 and 2022 US & French Open Singles Finalist Casper Ruud of Norway; Former World #12 and 2013 Wimbledon Singles Finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany; Canadian tennis star and former Wimbledon Doubles Champion and World #25, Vasek Pospisil; Former World #14 and 2018 Calgary National Bank Challenger Champion Ivo Karlovic of Croatia; Former Top 5 player Tommy Robredo of Spain; 2020 Calgary National Bank Challenger Singles Finalist and current World #32 Maxime Cressy of the United States of America and 2020 Calgary National Bank Challenger Champion Arthur Rinderknech of France who is now World #56.
For more information: www.calgary.nationalbankchallenger.com
*ABOUT NATIONAL BANK CHALLENGER TOURNAMENTS*
The Calgary National Bank Challenger is among several tournaments in the Challenger circuit sponsored by National Bank in Canada. Aiming to support the development of the international elite, the professional tournaments provide Canadian athletes with their first experiences on the Tours and the opportunity to earn valuable points to move up in the world rankings. Over the years, the National Bank Challenger tournaments have served as a springboard for players including Canadian stars Félix Auger-Aliassime, Leylah Annie Fernandez, Denis Shapovalov and Bianca Andreescu, as well as Casper Ruud, Maxime Cressy and John Isner of the US, Daniel Evans of the UK, Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki of Germany and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.
*MEDIA CONTACT:
REBECCA HURL*
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