Vancouver Open moves to mid-August

The Odlum Brown Vancouver Open has announced a schedule change for 2015, moving the region’s biggest tennis tournament to August 15-23. Offering $200K in prize money, it is one of the biggest Challenger competitions on both the men’s ATP and women’s WTA tours. “Up-and-coming Canadian players can now head west right afterwards and come play in the Odlum Brown VanOpen,” says Vancouver Open Tournament Director Ryan Clark, pointing to mid- to late August being a better slot on the tour.

Jarmila Gajdosova (right) defeated Lesia Tsurenko in the 2014 VanOpen women's final. Will the 2015 champ have a higher ranking? Photos by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Jarmila Gajdosova (right) defeated Lesia Tsurenko in the 2014 VanOpen women’s final. Will the 2015 champ have a higher ranking? Photos by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Past tourneys have competed for marquee talent with multiple events around the world, including qualifying for Canada’s largest event, the Rogers Cup in Montreal and Vancouver. Hence, it has been difficult to bring in players in the top 100 in the world — in general, entrants to Challenger tournaments tend to be ranked between 50 and 250 in the world. Case in point, the 2014 finalists and current rankings are Jarmila Gajdosova (72), Lesia Tsurenko (91), Marcos Baghdatis (85) and Farrukh Dustov (120).

With the new date at North Van’s Hollyburn Country Club, most of the field at the Rogers Cup will have been eliminated, allowing for more top-100 players to head west. Even if they’re outed  Rafael Nadal and the Williams Sisters — or for that matter Milos Raonic and Eugenie Bouchard — likely won’t slum their way through a Challenger event. However, viewers can expect at least a few highly ranked wildcard entries using Vancouver as a warmup for the US Open.

Canadian Vasek Pospisil won the 2013 Vancouver Open singles final, then proceeded to take the Wimbeldon men's doubles title. Who will triumph in 2015? Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Canadian Vasek Pospisil won the 2013 Vancouver Open singles final, then proceeded to take the Wimbeldon men’s doubles title. Who will triumph in 2015? Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.