A Main Draw Wild Card for Venus Williams in Montréal
Montréal, July 23, 2021 – With the world’s best tennis players set to converge on Montréal and Toronto for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers, the qualifying competition promises some high-quality matchups. On Thursday, Tennis Canada released the list of 28 WTA players and 17 ATP players who will be going head-to-head in the preliminary event on August 7 and 8.
The field in Montréal features 27-year-old Danielle Collins (No.44) of the United States, who will be hoping to gain access to the tournament’s main draw, just like she did in 2019. Fellow American Sloane Stephens will also be fighting for a spot. The World No.70 triumphed at the 2017 US Open and played her way into the finals at Roland-Garros as well as the National Bank Open in 2018. World No.51 Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia, who reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals, and No.75 Su-Wei Hsieh of Chinese Taipei, who made it to the Australian Open quarter-finals, will also be vying to move to the next level.
In Toronto, World No.56 Nick Kyrgios of Australia headlines the qualifying draw. The former member of the Top 20, who has won all six of his career titles on hard courts, is likely to be a tough opponent on the inaugural weekend. At just 19 years old, Lorenzo Musetti of Italy will be at his very first National Bank Open. The No.61 made headlines this year, especially after his performance in the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros, where he managed to secure a two-set lead against World No.1 Novak Djokovic before falling in five. No.48 Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany and No.51 Lloyd Harris of South Africa, who were finalists in Munich (Struff) and Dubai (Harris) earlier this season, will be working to capitalize on their momentum. As was confirmed by Tennis Canada in last week’s main draw player list announcement, Canadian Vasek Pospisil has received a main draw Wildcard for the National Bank Open. He has, therefore, been replaced in the qualifying draw by Jeremy Chardy of France.
Wildcards (to be announced) will round out the qualifying draws in Montréal and Toronto.
See the draws here:
Montréal
Toronto
Gold Wild Card for Venus Williams
Tennis Canada also confirmed that Venus Williams of the US has been given a Gold Wild Card for the 2021 National Bank Open main draw—an invitation extended to former World No.1s, players who were ranked in the Top 20 at the end of 2020 and those who have won a Grand Slam, the WTA Finals or a WTA 1000 title in their career. Three other Canadians will also receive wild cards for the main draw, Leylah Fernandez being one of them.
The 41-year-old American and former No.1 has earned 49 titles, including seven Grand Slam crowns (five at Wimbledon, two at the US Open). She will be competing in Canada for the eighth time in a row and her fourth time in Montreal. Her best result came in 2014, when she fought all the way to the final after overpowering three Top 15 players including her sister, then World No.1 Serena Williams. In the end, Venus lost the title to Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland (6-4, 6-2).
In 2014, the eldest of the Williams sisters had some very positive words for Montreal: “I feel as if I’m from Quebec myself,” she mentioned. “Maybe from far away, a piece of my soul is from here… Rome has always been my favourite city. But this week, I found Montreal to be a close rival. I can’t wait to come back.”
“It goes without saying that we are very happy to announce that Venus Williams has received a wild card,” affirmed tournament director Eugène Lapierre. “Venus is—and always will be—an emblematic figure in tennis, and fans are very fortunate to have the opportunity to continue to marvel at her game. There’s no doubt Montrealers will be thrilled to welcome her back.”
Tickets to the National Bank Open
The National Bank Open presented by Rogers is a prestigious tournament owned and operated by Tennis Canada. Year after year, it attracts the biggest and brightest stars in professional tennis. In 2021, the women’s edition (WTA) will run from August 7 to 15 at IGA Stadium in Montréal, and the men’s event (ATP) will take place from August 7 to 15 at Aviva Centre in Toronto.
Go to www.omniumbanquenationale.com to purchase tickets for the tournament in Montréal. Tickets for the Toronto tournament will go on sale on Monday, July 26.
TVA Sports is the official French-language broadcaster of the 2021 National Bank Open. Official English-language coverage will be provided by Sportsnet.
About the National Bank Open presented by Rogers
The National Bank Open presented by Rogers is a Tennis Canada owned and operated world-class tournament celebrating its 140th anniversary of the men’s event from August 7-15, 2021 at Aviva Centre in Toronto and its 128th anniversary of the women’s event from August 7-15, 2021 at IGA Stadium in Montreal. As a WTA 1000 tournament, ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournament, and US Open Series event, National Bank Open presented by Rogers will showcase the world’s best players. National Bank Open presented by Rogers is the third-oldest title in tennis, behind only Wimbledon and the US Open. For more information and tickets visit www.nationalbankopen.com.
About Tennis Canada
Founded in 1890, Tennis Canada is a non-profit, national sport association with a mission to lead the growth of tennis in Canada and a vision to become a world-leading tennis nation. We value teamwork, passion, integrity, innovation and excellence. Tennis Canada owns and operates the premier National Bank Open presented by Rogers WTA and ATP Tour events, four professional ATP and ITF sanctioned events and financially supports four other professional tournaments in Canada. Tennis Canada operates junior national training centres/programs in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. Tennis Canada is a proud member of the International Tennis Federation, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee, and serves to administer, sponsor and select the teams for Davis Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and all wheelchair, junior and senior national teams. Tennis Canada invests its surplus into tennis development. For more information on Tennis Canada please visit our Web site at: www.tenniscanada.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
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Media Contacts
Oliver Wheeler, Advisor, Communications
owheeler@tenniscanada.com or 647-458-4005
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