Drummondville, October 8, 2014 – A first press conference was held on Wednesday at Tennis intérieur René-Verrier in Drummondville to officially announce the arrival of the first edition of the Drummondville National Bank Challenger. The $40,000 ATP Challenger Tour event will be held from March 14-22, 2015.
Held in Rimouski since 2006, the Challenger, which will now be played in Drummondville, will be the fourth biggest men’s event in Canada after the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank, the $100,000 Vancouver National Bank Challenger, and the $50,000 Granby National Bank Challenger.
This marks the first time that Drummondville will host a tournament of this calibre. The city will welcome professional players from approximately 20 countries in March. The athletes will benefit from the new facilities at Tennis René-Verrier which were completed in September 2011 and confrom to international tennis regulations.
The tournament will be an opportunity for some Canadians players to play at home and earn valuable ranking points, including former junior World No. 1 Filip Peliwo, Davis Cup team member Frank Dancevic, and world no. 126 Peter Polansky. Four main draw wildcards will be awarded to Canadian players.
“We are happy to have a tournament of this calibre come to Drummondville in 2015. The organizing committee is already hard at work to ensure that the event will be a success,” said Tennis Canada Tournament Director Richard Quirion. “It will be a chance for tennis fans in the region to watch some of tennis’ rising stars.”
The Drummondville National Bank Challenger is added to the list of Challengers already sponsored by National Bank including the mixed tournament in Granby as well as the women’s Challengers in Gatineau and Saguenay.
