Popular Tennis Tournament returning with new tournament date in Calendar (OCTOBER 13 to 20, 2024)
Today, the organizers of the Calgary National Bank Challenger (The Challenger) announced that the Calgary National Bank Challenger will return for its 5th year. The event takes place at the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre. The Challenger is currently the largest international tennis tournament in Canada outside of the National Bank Open (ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 event). The Challenger features many of the best up-and-coming and established stars on the ATP & WTA World Tour.
The 2024 Calgary National Bank Challenger will have a new date on the international calendar, with this year’s event taking place October 13 to 20, 2024. “We believe our new date better positions us on the international and national tournament calendar and will help attract an even stronger player field”, said Danny Da Costa, Tournament Director, and CEO of the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre. The inaugural event took place during the same time in 2018 and was previously held in both the month of February and November. This year’s event will be an ATP Challenger 75 and ITF Women’s Pro Circuit 75 event.
The Calgary National Bank Challenger has quickly emerged as one of the premier sporting events in Alberta with 13,112 spectators attending the event in 2023. The Challenger provided over a million minutes of complimentary live-streaming coverage to an international audience, while generating over $3.67 million dollars in economic impact to the local and provincial economy.
In addition to the world-class tennis on display, the Challenger also presents a host of exceptional promotional and community engagement opportunities, which showcase Alberta and the sport of tennis. “Our Challenger also showcases the best of Alberta, from engaging Alberta’s top chefs and restaurants, event planners and businesses to deliver a world-class experience for the City of Calgary and Province of Alberta”. The 2023 Challenger directly partnered with over 100 Alberta based companies to deliver the 8-day event. “Over 90% of all our event’s partners have offices or are based in Alberta and this is something we are extremely proud of, making it an Made in Alberta event. The event has put Calgary on the international tennis map, and we hoping to continue to grow this event in the future,” said Da Costa.
The 2023 Challenger event was rated among the best ATP Challenger events in the world by players, coaches and tournament officials as part of the ATP Challenger Tour player surveys in 2023. The Challenger was also a 2023 finalist for the Canadian Sport Tourism Awards in 2023, which recognizes Canada’s best national and international sporting events. Last year the Challenger became the first International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s event in Canada to offer paid hospitality to female players. To support and promote women and girls in tennis, the Challenger hosted several programming activities such as Knix Women’s Day, Girl.Set.Equity and a Women in Coaching conference in conjunction with event partners Tennis Canada, National Bank and the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre.
5th Anniversary Tickets will go on sale starting on February 13, 2023, with early-bird pricing beginning April 1, 2024. Tickets and Event Information To purchase tickets, go to the official website of the tournaments.
ABOUT THE CALGARY NATIONAL BANK CHALLENGER
The Calgary National Bank Challenger is the largest combined men’s & women’s indoor tennis tournament in Canada. The Calgary National Bank Challenger has quickly emerged as one of the best ATP Challenger events in the world and one of Alberta’s premier sporting events. In 2022, the Challenger hosted our inaugural International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s Pro Circuit $60K Event featuring many of the best up-and-coming and established female players in the world. In 2023, the Calgary National Bank Challenger became the first International Tennis Federation W60 event in Canada to offer paid hospitality to female players. Past participants of the Calgary National Bank Challenger event include Former World #2 and 3x Grand Slam Singles Finalist Casper Ruud of Norway; Former World #12 and 2013 Wimbledon Singles Finalist and 2023 Calgary National Bank Challenger Singles Champion, Sabine Lisicki of Germany; Canadian tennis star and former Wimbledon Doubles Champion and World #25, Vasek Pospisil; Former World #14 and 2018 Calgary National Bank Challenger Champion Ivo Karlovic; Other star players who have participated include: Maxime Cressy, Arthur Rinderknech, Joao Sousa, Benoit Paire, Tommy Robredo, and Urszula Radwanska. For more information: www.calgary.nationalbankchallenger.com
ABOUT NATIONAL BANK CHALLENGER TOURNAMENTS
The Calgary National Bank Challenger is among several tournaments on the Challenger circuit sponsored by National Bank in Canada. Aiming to support the development of the international elite, the professional tournaments provide Canadian athletes with their first experiences on the Tours and the opportunity to earn valuable points to move up in the world rankings. Over the years, the National Bank Challenger tournaments have served as a springboard for players including Canadian stars Félix Auger-Aliassime, Leylah Annie Fernandez, Denis Shapovalov and Bianca Andreescu, as well as Casper Ruud, Maxime Cressy and John Isner of the US, Daniel Evans of the UK, Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki of Germany and Ons Jabeur of Tunisia.
