A staple of the prestigious Masters 1000 competitions on tour, the Canadian Open stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of the Indian Wells Masters, the Shanghai Masters, and the Madrid Open just below the Grand Slams.
In 2023, the now-named National Bank Open stages its men’s event in Toronto and the women’s event in Montréal, flipping the stadiums from the year prior.
Before world-class tennis returns for this year’s Canadian Open, here’s what you need to know about the prestigious meet’s history and the famed past winners.
When Did The Canadian Open Begin?
The Canadian Open began in July 1881, which took the form of a men’s tournament in Toronto at the Lawn Tennis Club. Just 11 years later, the first women’s Canadian Open got underway.
Only Wimbledon remains an older tennis tournament than the Canadian Open, which saw its first serve in 1877, while the first US National Championships took place in August 1881.
Where Is The Canadian Open Played?
The Canadian Open, or National Bank Open presented by Rogers, is held simultaneously in Toronto, Ontario and Montréal, Quebec.
A lot can happen in 5 years 👉 including the rise of an entirely new, fresh, and extremely talented generation of tennis players 🤩
— Omnium Banque Nationale (@OBNmontreal) June 22, 2023
See what's new since the last time the best of the @wta played in front of a full crowd in Montreal ⬇️https://t.co/uVUTTAojGf pic.twitter.com/06JiHE1WlC
Men’s and women’s tournaments rotate between the two cities each year, with odd-numbered years now seeing the women’s tournament played in Montréal.
In Toronto, the tennis is played at Sobeys Stadium (12,500 capacity), while the Montréal tournament is hosted by the IGA Stadium (11,700 capacity).
What Surface Is Played On For The Canadian Open?
Hard courts are the playing surface for the Canadian Open, but this wasn’t always the case. Up until 1979, the Canadian Open was a clay tournament.
Both the Toronto and Montréal courts of the Canadian Open are under the same classification of court surface.
At Sobeys Stadium and the IGA Stadium, the courts used to be the cushioned acrylic surface provided by DecoTurf.
In 2020 – following the lead of the US Open – Toronto’s courts switched to Laykold, which is claimed to provide a faster surface than that of DecoTurf.
Who Won The Last Canadian Open?
In the men’s singles, Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta got the better of Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the 2022 Canadian Open Final, having seen top seeds Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz bow out in the second round.
For the women’s Canadian Open, 2022 saw Simona Halep claim her third victory at the tournament, besting Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia in the final.
The Romanian entered ranked 15th but managed to stick around well beyond top seed Iga Świątek (third round), Anett Kontaveit (second round), and Aryna Sabalenka (third round).
Halep won’t be there to defend her Canadian crown this year as she’s serving a provisional anti-doping suspension.
This would seemingly ease the path for WTA frontrunner Świątek at +500 in the outright markets of sport betting in Canada to land the WTA 1000, but both Elena Rybakina and Sabalenka are right there at +500 too.
Who has Won The Canadian Open The Most?
The leader for the most wins in women’s Canadian Open history remains Lois Moyes Bickle.
The Canadian secured her tenth and final title in 1924, smashing the former record (which is still the second-best count) of five by compatriot Violet Summerhayes.
Fittingly, Bickle defeated Summerhayes in the final to land her first Canadian Open in 1906.
In the men’s, the Canadian Open crown has been won a record six times by Ivan Lendl. The Czech’s last came to complete the three-peat in 1989, defeating John McEnroe the year before it turned into an ATP 1000 tournament.
Next in line is Rafael Nadal, who secured his first Canadian Open in 2005 and his fifth in 2019. Should he have one more year left in the tank, he could tie the record for Canadian Open wins in 2024.
Do Wimbledon Winners Succeed Tt The Canadian Open?
On the 2023 calendar, the Canadian Open is the first ATP 1000 and WTA 1000 after the Wimbledon Grand Slam, with the two usually being one month apart on the schedule each year.
Unfortunately, success on the grass of Great Britain doesn’t tend to be foretelling of a tournament win a month later on Canadian hard courts.
In the women’s, you have to go back to 1993 to see Steffi Graff win both tournaments in the same year. For the men’s, it’s a bit more recently, with Novak Djokovic winning the duo in 2011.
For men’s and women’s, it’s pretty rare for the Grand Slam win to be followed up by the 1000 win.
This is worth considering if tennis betting frontrunners like Djokovic (-150) or Carlos Alcaraz (+333) do win at Wimbledon but come in as the favourites in the Canadian Open futures.
Who Was The Last Canadian To Win The Canadian Open?
In men’s tennis, you have to turn the pages of the Canadian Open history books all the way back to 1958 to find the last Canadian winner of the tennis championship.
B-i-a-n-c-a A-n-d-r-e-e-s-c-u, 2019 champion 📝#RC19 @Bandreescu_ pic.twitter.com/eIzgsXi3Dr
— National Bank Open (@NBOtoronto) August 11, 2019
Marking his third triumph, Robert Bédard was the last Canadian to win the Canadian Open in 1958. There hasn’t been a Canadian in the final since.
Bianca Andreescu offers a ray of light for Canadian tennis fans, having won the Canadian Open as recently as 2019. Still only 23-years-old, the Ontario native has plenty of time to add another home triumph in the years to come.
*Credit for all images in this article belongs to AP Photo*
