Canadian Open (tennis)

The Canadian Open (; also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons) is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It is played on outdoor hardcourts. The men's competition is an ATP Masters 1000 event on the ATP Tour, and the women's competition is a WTA 1000 event on the WTA Tour. It is the second-oldest active tennis tournament in the world, with Wimbledon the oldest.

Prior to 2011, the two competitions were held during separate weeks in the July–August period; now the two competitions are held during the same week in August. The events alternate each year between the cities of Montreal and Toronto. Since 2021, in even-numbered years the men's tournament is held in Montreal while the women's tournament is held in Toronto, and vice versa in odd-numbered years. The Toronto tournament is held at Sobeys Stadium and the Montreal tournament is held at IGA Stadium.

The current singles champions as of 2024 are Alexei Popyrin and Jessica Pegula. The most recent Canadian men's player to win the singles title was Robert Bédard who won the last of his three Canadian Open singles championships in 1958. The most recent Canadian women's player to win the singles title was Bianca Andreescu in 2019.

History

The men's tournament began in July 1881, and was held at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, while the women's competition was first held in 1892. It is the second oldest active tournament after Wimbledon and was held one month before the inaugural U.S. National Championships.

Prior to 1968 the tournament was known as the Canadian National Championships. The tournament was part of the WCT circuit briefly in 1971 before joining the Grand Prix circuit from 1972 till 1989. The tournament was sponsored for a number of years by tobacco brands. In the 1970s, Rothmans International was the chief sponsor, followed by Player's Limited in the 1980s, and then Du Maurier from 1995 to 2000. From 1988 onward, these sponsorships relied on a loophole in Canadian tobacco marketing law; while cigarettes couldn't be advertised directly, the tobacco companies could provide corporate sponsorship, and as a result they formed subsidiaries named after the brands as surrogates. However, the federal government announced in 1998 that the loophole would be closed in late 2003. Rogers Communications, a Canadian communications and media company, then took over as the new presenting sponsor in 2000.

The event was played on clay until it was switched permanently to hard courts in 1979. Up to the end of the 1980 Canadian Open, both the men's and women's tournaments were played as a single combined tournament at the National Tennis Centre in Toronto. In 1981, the men's tournament was played at the Jarry Park Stadium in Montreal for the first time. Similarly, 1982 was the first year in which the women's tournament was played in Montreal. From 1981–2019, the men's event was played in Toronto in even numbered years and in Montreal in odd numbered years, while the women's event was played in Montreal in even numbered years and in Toronto in odd numbered years. After the 2020 tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament since 2021 has seen the men play in Toronto in odd numbered years and in Montreal in even numbered years, and the women play in Montreal in odd numbered years and in Toronto in even numbered years.

The most recent Canadian men's player to win the Canadian Open was Robert Bédard who won the championship in 1955 over compatriot Henri Rochon in the final, again in 1957 over Ramanathan Krishnan in the final, and finally in 1958 over Whitney Reed in the final. The most recent Canadian women's player to win the singles title was Bianca Andreescu who won the women's singles championships over Serena Williams in 2019.

In 1989, two Canadian male tennis players, Grant Connell and Andrew Sznajder, reached the quarterfinals of the event. They were eliminated by Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi respectively. Lendl has been the tournament's most successful singles player, reaching the final nine times and winning the title in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1988, and 1989.

In 1995, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras met in the final, the third of the four times that the two top-ranked men's players would meet that year, after the Australian Open and Indian Wells Masters. Agassi's tournament win helped him regain the number-one ranking, which he lost to Sampras after they played each other again at the US Open.

du Maurier Open

In 1997, the Canadian federal government introduced legislation restricting the ability of tobacco companies from sponsoring sporting events. The tournament was faced with losing its title sponsor, and eventually du Maurier was replaced.

Canada Masters

In 2000, International Sport and Leisure signed a 10-year agreement with the ATP Tour for all Masters series events, including the men's tournament. Rogers and AT&T Canada became the title sponsors for the women's event in 2001. ISL went bankrupt, leaving the men's tournament without a sponsor. Serena Williams won the women's tournament for the first time, defeating top-seeded and previous winner Jennifer Capriati. In 2004, the tournament became part of the US Open Series, in the build-up to the US Open grand slam tournament. The women's tournament was moved to just before the US Open grand slam tournament. Consequently, top players sometimes withdrew from the tournament at the last minute to rest for the upcoming US Open.

Rogers Cup

In 2005, Rogers Communications became the title sponsor for the men's tournament. It was already the sponsor for the women's event, and both events became known as the Rogers Cup. Rafael Nadal won the men's tournament for his first time, defeating three-time champion Andre Agassi. In 2007, Novak Djokovic won the men's tournament for the first time, becoming the first man to defeat both Nadal and Roger Federer in the same event.

In 2009, WTA CEO Stacey Allaster implemented rules reclassifying the women's event as a Premier 5 event, which guaranteed at least seven of the top ten players. The WTA's rules required each year-end top-10 player from 2008 to participate in at least four Premier 5 tournaments in the 2009 season, or face the threat of fines or docked ranking points. Consequently, 19 of the top 20 female players took part in the 2009 Rogers Cup draw. The ATP mandated participation for the men's tournament as a "1000-level" series event.

Beginning in 2011, the men's and women's tournaments were held during the same week, with each event alternating between Montreal and Toronto.

Bianca Andreescu won the women's tournament in 2019, becoming the first Canadian to win the tournament since Faye Urban in 1969.

In 2020, the men's and women's tournaments were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

National Bank Open

On February 2, 2021, Tennis Canada announced that National Bank would become the title sponsor of the tournament under a 10-year agreement, renaming it the National Bank Open. Rogers remained as the presenting sponsor.

On March 22, 2024, the ATP Tour announced that the tournament would be expanding to a 12-day format for men, with the draws expanding from 56 to 96 players.

Event titles

Past finals

Men's singles

Women's singles

Men's doubles

Women's doubles

Records

Source: The Tennis Base

Men's singles

References

Notes

See also

* :National and multi-national tennis tournaments

External links

*

ATP tournament profile

Official Rogers Cup live streaming

{{ATP Masters Series tournament doubles winners

Tennis tournaments in Canada
Hard court tennis tournaments
WTA 1000 tournaments
US Open Series
Recurring sporting events established in 1881
ATP Tour Masters 1000
1881 establishments in Canada
National and multi-national tennis tournaments