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Quebec Challenger tournament doubles its prize money for 2015
Eugenie Bouchard passed through Granby right after her big Wimbledon junior victory in 2012, and won the Granby Challenger.
In fact, most of the Canadians, on their way up the ladder to the ATP and WTA Tour levels, have been through Granby, a small town about an hour southeast of Montreal that hosts a charming men's and women's Challenger event (Sharon Fichman and Marie-Eve Pelletier won the doubles that year).
This year, as it celebrates its 20th anniversary, there will be no Bouchard, Raonic or Pospisil. But with the announcement Tuesday that the tournament will double its prize money, it should get an uptick in terms of the quality of the fields.
The men's event will go from a $50,000 event to $100,000, while the women will go from $25,000 to $50,000.
The tournament gets coverage on French-language TVA Sports from the quarter-finals on.
The press-release quote from tournament director Eugene Lapierre, who fulfills the same functions for the Rogers Cup in Montreal:
"This is an important day for the Granby Challenger. This significant prize money increase means that the calibre of play will be even stronger than in the past. The fans in the region will benefit as we are confident that we will be able to attract more players ranked inside the Top 100."
On first glance, it seemed as though many of the Canadians would be busy elsewhere, with the Pan-Am Games going on in Toronto and the Davis Cup quarter-final in Belgium the weekend of July 17-19.
But the timing has worked out. College star Brayden Schnur and 18-year-old Montrealer Françoise Abanda are slated to compete in the Pan-Am Games, which take place from July 10-16 at the Aviva Centre (formerly the Rexall Centre) in Toronto. Frank Dancevic and 21-year-old Filip Peliwo will be with the Davis Cup team in Belgium, but can fly back in time to take part.
Last year, the Japanese took the honours (there was a large contingent of Japanese women players there, seemingly chaperoned by one mom).
No. 173-ranked Hiroki Moriya of Japan won the men's singles over Frenchman Fabrice Martin, while 23-year-old Miharu Imanishi won the women's singles. Countrywoman Hiroko Kuwata and Riko Sawayanagi won the women's doubles in a walkover over Canadian college players Erin Routliffe and Carol Zhao.
There are ATP Tour events in Bastad, Sweden and Umag, Croatia (on clay) and Bógota, Colombia (on hard court) that week. There also is a Challenger in Binghamton, NY that week (about a four-hour drive away), but it only offers half the prize money that Granby will boast this time around. The WTA Tour has stops in Austria and Istanbul, and there is a similar $50,000 ITF tournament in Stockton, Calif (which has a similar event in nearby Sacremento the next week so players will, for logistical purposes, most likely play both).
The following week, there will be another ITF women's event on Quebec soil, a $25,000 tournament in Gatineau, right near Ottawa.
