Two top 80 players entered
The list of players for the second edition of the $50,000 Drummondville National Bank Challenger was unveiled on Monday. The tournament will be played from March 12-20 at the René-Verrier indoor tennis club in Drummondville.
“Tennis fans in the region will have the chance to watch experienced as well as up and coming players on the ATP World Tour,” said tournament director Richard Quirion. “We are also very happy that Frank Dancevic will be returning to Drummondville after his great run last year. Everything is in place for a fun week of tennis.”
Dancevic will lead the Canadian contingent in Drummondville. The 31-year-old, ranked no. 245 in the world, will be arriving from Guadeloupe where he was a member of the Canadian Davis Cup team that played France in the first round of World Group. Last fall, Dancevic won 19 straight matches and three consecutive Futures titles on Canadian soil.
Aussies John Millman and Sam Groth are slated to be the top seeds in Drummondville this year. Ranked no. 75 in the world, Millman reached the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 event in Montpelier earlier this season thanks to a pair of wins over Édouard Roger-Vasselin and Julien Benneteau. He also advanced to the third round of the Australian Open. Ranked no. 77 in the world, Groth reached two Grand Slam third rounds at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2015. Millman and Groth will be joined by their compatriots Matthew Ebden (no. 104), James Duckworth (no. 150), Benjamin Mitchell (no. 249), and Omar Jasika (no. 270). It will also be worth following 18-year-old American young guns Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul, ranked no. 178 and no. 224 in the world, respectively.
The Drummondville National Bank Challenger is part of the group of tournaments sponsored by National Bank, a group that includes mixed events in Granby and Gatineau as well as women’s Challengers in Saguenay and Winnipeg.
The Drummondville National Bank Challenger is the final stop in a series of three tournaments held in Quebec during the month of March. The tournament is preceded by the Gatineau Futures presented by Turpin Group, National Bank Financial and the Subaru Sherbrooke Futures presented by Rouge FM.
