After a one-year hiatus the Odlum Brown VanOpen pro tennis tournament is back at West Vancouver’s Hollyburn Country Club with the strongest field in the tournament’s history.
Headlining the men’s draw at the US$200,000 tournament is the undisputed king of the Hollyburn courts, Israel’s Dudi Sela, who has won four VanOpen singles titles and is currently ranked No. 77 in the world.
Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei is the highest ranked player at No. 70, while Aussie Jordan Thompson, Marius Copil of Romania, Slovakia native Norbert Gombos, Japan’s Taro Daniel, Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium and Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen are all ranked in the top-100. There will also be a strong Canadian contingent with North Vancouver pros Philip Bester and Filip Peliwo joining Frank Dancevic, Peter Polansky and Brayden Schnur.
On the women’s side American Madison Brengle is the top-ranked player, coming in at No. 72 in the world. Japan’s Nao Hibino is just behind at No. 75 while Pauline Parmentier of France is also ranked inside the top-100.
Another headliner is Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak, who is returning to the VanOpen for the first time since winning the tournament in 2011. The former world No. 21, named Canada’s female player of the year five times, recently won her first tournament title since 2012.
Main draw play begins Monday with the finals scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 20. Updated schedules and results can be found at vanopen.com.
