By Canadian Press

Tennis Canada creates points race for National Bank Open wild-card spots

Feb 27, 2025 | 5:38 PM

TORONTO — Tennis Canada will award a singles main-draw wild card entry to the top Canadian man and woman accumulating the most points in national events preceding the National Bank Open in Montreal and Toronto.

The 2025 edition of the National Bank Open will be held July 26 to Aug. 7 with the WTA heading to Montreal and the ATP in Toronto.

The “Road to the NBO” was already underway as pro tennis tournaments in Canada after the 2024 National Bank Open were factored into the rankings.

Kayla Cross of London, Ont., ranked first among women for the Montreal wild card with 120 points and Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., topped the men’s race with 72.

“This new competition is sure to build the excitement in the months leading up to the 2025 National Bank Open, and we can’t wait to see how it translates onto the court,” said Valérie Tétreault, tournament director of Montreal’s NBO in a statement Thursday.

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“Not only do we believe that this is a fantastic way to elevate our Canadian events, but it will also create some interesting and inspiring storylines in the run-up to our biggest tournament of the year.

“For the players themselves, the Road to the NBO offers a unique opportunity to showcase their skills on home soil and ultimately gives everyone an equal chance of earning a spot in the main draw of our world-class event.”

The points system used to determine the standings is based on the ATP and WTA singles ranking points earned by each participant at the dedicated events.

Events held in July, however, will be worth double the points. In the event of a tie, the player ranked the highest following the update on July 21, 2025, will receive the wild card.

If the player at the top of the standings by the end of the competition cannot participate at the NBO, or has already received direct entry into the tournament, the wild card will be allocated to the next player with the most points, Tennis Canada said.

In addition, the player with the second-most points in the men’s Road to the NBO standings will receive a wild card into the NBO qualifiers.

On the women’s side, Tennis Canada announced its intention to host a pre-qualifying tournament to determine two more wild cards for the NBO — one for the main draw and one for the qualifier.

“The National Bank Open is entering a new era, with its expanded 12-day format and 96-player main draw, which has opened the door for us to explore different and creative ways of allocating our wild cards,” explained Tennis Canada high-performance vice-president Guillaume Marx in the statement.

“We now have eight main-draw wild cards for the WTA event and five on the ATP side, giving us the opportunity to create the Road to the NBO, a concept we’ve considered doing for many years. One thing we’ve always said is how important our Canadian professional events are to the growth of the game and the professional pipeline in our country, and this competition only reinforces that belief. Players will now have even more reasons to play at home, and we can’t wait to see how things unfold as the summer approaches.”

The three remaining tournaments in the women’s points race are W15 Trois-Rivières and W15 Montreal in March and the Granby National Bank Championships in July.

The remaining tournaments counting in the men’s race are the M15 Sherbrooke and M15 Montreal in March, M25 Laval in June and the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger and the Granby National Bank Championships in July.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2025.

The Canadian Press