Frank Dancevic will lead the Canadian contingent
The players list for the first edition of the Drummondville National Bank Challenger was announced on Tuesday. Sancitoned by the ATP, the tournament offers $50,000 in prize money and will be played from March 14-22, 2014 at Tennis intérieur René-Verrier in Drummondville.
“Tennis fans in the region will be spoiled for this first edition with a very strong draw featuring four Top 100 players and Canadian Frank Dancevic, who has proven many times that he can compete with the best players in the world,” said Tennis Canada Tournament Director Richard Quirion. “The organizing committee has been working extra hard over the past few months and the response from the public has been excellent. Everything is in place for a great week of tennis.”
Frank Dancevic (Niagara Falls, ON) will lead the Canadian contingent. He is one of the four members of Canada’s Davis Cup team that will face Japan in Vancouver this weekend in a World Group first round tie. Currently ranked no. 166 on the ATP rankings, Dancevic reached a career-high of no. 65 in September of 2007. The 30-year-old has won eight ATP Challenger titles, including the Granby National Bank Challenger on three occasions in 2003, 2006, and 2013. Four Canadians will be granted wildcards in the coming days to join Dancevic in the main draw.
Aussie Sam Groth is slated to be the top seed in Drummondville. The world no. 69, one of the biggest servers in the men’s game, will defend the title he won last year when the Challenger was held in Rimouski. Groth has enjoyed a strong start to the 2015 season. He reached the quarter-finals of the ATP event in Brisbane and the third round at the Australian Open. Three more Top 100 players will be joining Groth including Tatsuma Ito of Japan (no. 85), Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko (no. 93), and Blaz Rola of Slovenia (no. 97). In addition, four players on this year’s entry have been ranked inside the world’s Top 50 : Andreas Beck, Alejandro Falla, and Lukas Lacko.
Drummondville is hosting a tournament of this magnitude for the first time in the city’s history. The Drummondville National Bank Challenger joins the list of tournaments already sponsored by National Bank, a mixed Challenger in Granby and a pair of women’s challengers in Gatineau and Saguenay.
The Drummondville National Bank Challenger is the final stop in a series of three consecutive tournaments played in Quebec during the month of March. The event will be preceded by the Gatineau Futures presented by Rouge FM and the Sherbrooke Futures.
