It turns out it wasn’t game, set and match for the Odlum Brown VanOpen pro tennis tournament, it was just a relatively quick timeout before a triumphant return to the court.
The event, hosted annually at West Vancouver’s Hollyburn Country Club, was a headliner on the North Shore sports calendar for more than a decade before being abruptly cancelled one year ago. Today organizers announced that in 2017 the tournament – the second largest pro tennis event in Canada – will be back with the same prize money drawing the same calibre of players to the North Shore.
West Vancouver’s Carlota Lee, longtime housing co-ordinator for the tournament, will step up to the role of tournament chairwoman, while former player Rik de Voest, who won the tournament in 2006, is the new tournament director.
“I’m thrilled to join the Odlum Brown VanOpen as tournament director and look forward to working with one of the finest sporting events in Canada,” stated de Voest, a native of South Africa, in a media release. “As a competitor, I know how the tournament and venue provided a world-class experience for players, fans and sponsors, and I look forward to helping bring that back.”
The tournament was cancelled as a result of the decision of longtime chairman and underwriter Floyd Hill to step away from the event. Other key organizers interested in keeping the VanOpen going weren’t able to host the event in 2016, but there were early discussions about getting it back on court in 2017. Those plans were cemented with Monday’s announcement.
“We’re beyond thrilled,” said tournament media co-ordinator Brian Wiebe about the organizing team’s mood following the announcement. “Until you get sponsors in place and you get the financial side of things taken care of, it was always a ‘what-if.’ It was always like, well, it might not happen. But I know that the team that was working on all that stuff behind the scenes was really dedicated. They’re all doing it because they’re passionate about the tournament, they’re passionate about what it does for Vancouver and the North Shore. That’s why they do it. … Now we can have the public as excited as everyone else is.”
The tournament will run Aug. 12-20, 2017 at Hollyburn with nearly 150 male and female players competing for a share of the US$200,000 prize purse.
“Tennis B.C. enthusiastically supports this high-quality professional tournament,” said Mark Roberts, CEO of Tennis B.C. “Adding an event of this magnitude gives fans and players the opportunity to experience world-class play in our own backyard.”
Past winners include Vasek Pospisil in 2013, current world No. 9 Johana Konta in 2013 and 2015, former world No. 8 Marcos Baghdatis in 2009 and 2014, and superstar Maria Sharapova in 2002.
“This will help plant the seeds of a culture of excellence and sports entertainment for so many sport lovers, families, tennis fans, next generation junior players and younger children in the community,” said Oded Jacob, head coach of Tennis Canada’s National Junior Training Program in B.C. “This type of event places the city of Vancouver on the world map of the professional tennis tour and the world’s leading sporting events.”
