Skip to content

It's game over for VanOpen pro tennis tournament

'Heart-wrenching' decision brings immediate end to annual event held at West Vancouver's Hollyburn Country Club

The North Shore sports calendar lost one of its Grand Slam events Friday when organizers announced that it is game over for the Odlum Brown VanOpen professional tennis tournament held annually at Hollyburn Country Club.

The popular tournament brought up-and-coming tennis pros to West Vancouver every August for an event that grew to be one of the top Challenger tournaments on the pro circuit – one step down from the ATP World Tour – and the second largest professional tennis tournament in Canada.

The news of the VanOpen’s demise was delivered in a statement released by tournament chairman and underwriter Floyd Hill, who said he was stepping back to spend more time with his family and pursue other interests.   

“It was heart-wrenching to make this decision,” Hill told the North Shore News. He has worked at the tournament for all of its 14 years and became the face of the VanOpen 11 years ago when he became owner and underwriter. On top of running the tournament he also has a full-time job as an advisor and vice-president for Odlum Brown, a Vancouver-based investment firm. The decision to shut down the tournament has been weighing on him for many months, Hill said.

“The last couple of days have been pretty tough for me. It’s kind of like you make a decision and you know it’s the right decision but sometimes it’s still really, really hard,” he said. “When I started thinking about it back in November I basically had a few sleepless nights and I thought about it, I did pros and cons and went back and forth. My heart was that I wanted to keep the tournament going but then on the other hand I want also to have a life and summer. … I’ve got a grandchild who is 20 months old and I don’t get to see him. I want to make sure I don’t miss those years.”

Hill said he worked hard to find someone who could step into his place but there was no one willing and able to shoulder the load.

“My dream was that I would kind of ride off into the sunset and the tournament would carry on and eventually 20 years from now it might be a Masters event or a really big event that would carry on forever,” he said. “If somebody else was there to take it over it would have made me very happy but there just wasn’t anybody that I could see. And I did ask a few other people who had the same feelings that I do about tennis but none of them had the desire to spend the amount of time that it takes. It is a lot of time.”

News of the tournament’s demise spread quickly through the West Coast tennis world.

“Sad day for me,” North Vancouver tennis pro Philip Bester wrote on Twitter. The 2006 French Open junior finalist waged several VanOpen battles on Hollyburn’s Centre Court. “Thank you to all who were involved and brought a tournament to my backyard for 10 years.”

Longtime tournament director Ryan Clark was a member of the event’s inner circle and another face of the VanOpen. He was in on the decision to retire the tournament.

“There are so many moving parts to it that you can’t half do it,” Clark said. “You’re either doing it or you’re not. If we’re going to do it, it’s got to be the best. That’s the only way. And I think it was just the right time for all.”

Like Hill, Clark also has other full-time work that made putting on the VanOpen that much more taxing.

“A lot of people involved in the tournament have their day jobs,” he said. “To make an event of this level you’ve got to give up your summers. They’re gone. … I don’t know what it’s like to have a summer. I can’t remember. It was more than 15 years ago.”

The VanOpen has led a kind of charmed existence right from the start in 2002 when it was a $25,000, women’s-only event held at Vancouver’s Jericho Tennis Club.

That first event was won by none other than Maria Sharapova, who would go on to reach No. 1 in the world rankings. The VanOpen moved to Hollyburn in 2005 and grew to become a $200,000 combined men’s and women’s event.

The tournament was a springboard for talented young Canadian players. Milos Raonic, Vasek Pospisil and Eugenie Bouchard all prowled the Hollyburn courts before hitting the big time.

Israel’s Dudi Sela became king of the court by winning the tournament four times, while Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus brought star power on two separate occasions, winning the VanOpen in 2009 and 2014. Hollyburn even welcomed Martina Hingis, one of the all-time greats, for a sold-out exhibition match in 2012.

“A lot of players who played here have gone on to do great things,” said Hill. “I think it’s just fantastic. It is a little disappointing for me that I won’t be part of it going forward, I’m kind of leaving a little piece of my heart on the table when I leave. It’s been my baby for 14 years, particularly the last 11. There have been a lot of great people helping me along the way.”

Members of the Hollyburn Country Club were also heavily involved in the tournament. Aside from opening up their facilities for the tournament every summer, members also opened up their homes for the players, a much appreciated perk for athletes accustomed to bouncing from hotel to hotel for much of the year. Hollyburn also helped supply a small army of ball boys and ball girls each year who got to experience the thrill of standing – very quietly – next to their tennis idols, and maybe even handing them a towel.  

“You can’t have a better group of people than you have at Hollyburn. You can’t. They’re outstanding, top to bottom,” said Clark, who is also a member of the club. “A lot of very generous North Shore families took in players from around the world. That helped make the event very intimate.”

Clark said his phone was buzzing non-stop after the announcement with people sending emails and texts. Condolences, basically, on the loss of the tournament.

“It’s very touching,” he said. “You never know how many lives you’ve touched until it’s done sometimes. As soon as (the news was released) my cellphone was going off, emails have been coming in. … It’s been very nice to see that it touched that many people.”

Hill expressed gratitude to all who have supported the tournament over the years.

“There’s not enough words to say thank you to everybody from the fans to the volunteers, everybody who has helped make this a great legacy that we have in Vancouver,” he said, adding that although the tournament is no more, the VanOpen’s 14-year run should pave the way for more pro tennis events in the future.

“I’m positive that there’s going to be a fantastic tournament here and it will probably be a big tournament, and not too far in the distant future. Vancouver has proven to be a city that supports tennis. Somebody will come and fill the void that we’ve created and when they do I’ll wish them all the luck.”