After eight successful years hosting a men’s futures tournament, Riverside Badminton & Tennis Club in Saskatoon welcomes a new crop of professional tennis players to its courts next week. This year, they host the Riverside Tennis Classic, Saskatoon’s Women’s $25,000 professional event. The event is presented by BMO Wealth Management, Guillou & the Remai Group. This is the first time in the tournament’s history that it will be a women’s event, and the entry list promises exciting tennis through the week.
Qualifying rounds kick off this Monday, July 8th, with the main draw scheduled to start on Tuesday, July 9th. The event features singles and doubles draws, with all matches free for spectators. If the tournament progresses as intended, finals weekend will be July 13/14, with singles semi-finals and doubles final scheduled for Saturday, and the singles final scheduled for Sunday.
Looking at the entry list (as of July 4th), two Australians are projected to be the top two singles seeds: Maddison Inglis and Olivia Rogowska. Projected for the third seed is the top-ranked Canadian in the draw, Katherine Sebov of Toronto. Rounding out the projected top four seeds is Momoko Kobori of Japan.
Other Canadians on the main-draw acceptance list include Carol Zhao and Leylah Fernandez. Carol Zhao won the 2013 Junior Girls Australian Open Doubles Title and was a member of the 2016 NCAA Championships winning Standford Tennis Team. Leylah Fernandez, who is only 16 years of age, has already made a name for herself on the world stage. In January, she made the final of the Junior Girls Australian Open Singles draw and last month she won the Junior Girls French Open Singles Title. These back-to-back incredible grand slam results have contributed to her current worldwide junior girls ranking of third and led many to predict she will be one of the future stars of the WTA tour. Many other Canadians feature in the Qualifying for the event, including one local player: Regina’s Anya Chavez.
Drawsheets and orders of play will be updated throughout the week on the tournament’s ITF profile: Saskatoon Women’s $25,000. Tournament information, as well as club contact and address information, can be found at the club’s website: Riverside Badminton & Tennis Club. A reminder that matches are free for spectators, don’t miss out on your chance to see professional women’s tennis here in Saskatchewan!
