110-year-old Alberta Open tennis tournament sees upswing
One of Canada's oldest tennis tournaments brought together hundreds of players in Edmonton over the Heritage Day long weekend.
Saturday, The Lexus of Edmonton 110th Alberta Open held its first full-day event of this year's tournament on the new tennis courts at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
The executive director for Tennis Alberta said it's been the best turnout for the tournament yet.
"In the last couple years we’ve been sitting around just kind of over two hundred, so for this year we’re about twenty-plus players that have registered for the event," said Alan Mackin. "We’re seeing over the last three or four years there’s about a four or five per cent jump in participants each year."
Mackin said part of the rise in popularity may be due to COVID-19.
“A lot of people turned to tennis during the pandemic because it’s very safe and there’s 72 feet between you and your opponent," he added. "Ever since the pandemic stopped, there still seems to be an upswing of people playing the game.”
Over the five-day competition, 225 players will battle it out on eight indoor courts and six brand new outdoor courts, which will become covered courts in the winter.
More tennis courts – especially indoors – mean more people can play throughout the year, and Tennis Canada plans on adding 160 covered courts across the country over the next seven years to improve accessibility to the sport.
“We need many more of these facilities," Mackin said. "That’s why as an organization, Tennis Alberta, with our stakeholders, are really making a case to municipalities that we do need more indoor facilities to accomodate for the growth of the participation rates in our province.”
High-profile Canadian players winning big is also boosting interest in the sport, said 24-time Alberta Open champion Jeff Spiers at Saturday's event.
“The fact that we have Canadians doing well on the international scene now, you’re seeing more kids come into the sport," Jeff said.
“Andreescu, Shapovalov, even Milos Raonic too. It definitely gives a lot of motivation for junior players for sure,” added Jeff's 20-year-old son, Liam Spiers.
Liam, coached by his dad, won the Alberta Open last year. He's hoping to successfully defend that title over the weekend and add to his family's championship legacy.
It's one that stretches beyond his father's accomplishments.
“My grandma was winning this tournament about 60 years ago, you know my dad’s got a lot of titles, my uncle, now myself as well,” Liam said.
The tournament started Thursday and wraps up with finals on Monday.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian former Olympic snowboarder wanted in Ontario double homicide: DOJ
A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder who is suspected of being the leader of a transnational drug trafficking group that operated in four countries is wanted for allegedly orchestrating the murder of an 'innocent' couple in Ontario in 2023, authorities say.
Ontario school board trustees under fire for $100K religious art purchase on Italy trip
Trustees with an Ontario school board are responding to criticism over a $45,000 trip to Italy, where they purchased more than $100,000 worth of religious statues.
A photographer snorkeled for hours to take this picture
Shane Gross, a Canadian marine conservation photojournalist, has won the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
Tobacco giants would pay out $32.5 billion to provinces, smokers in proposed deal
Three tobacco giants are proposing to pay close to $25 billion to provinces and territories and more than $4 billion to some 100,000 Quebec smokers and their loved ones as part of a corporate restructuring process triggered by a long-running legal battle.
More Trudeau cabinet ministers not running for re-election, sources say shuffle expected soon
Federal cabinet ministers Filomena Tassi, Carla Qualtrough and Dan Vandal announced Thursday they will not run for re-election. Senior government sources tell CTV News at least one other, Marie-Claude Bibeau, doesn't plan to run again, setting the stage for Justin Trudeau to shuffle his cabinet in the coming weeks.
Robert Pickton's handwritten book seized after his death in hopes of uncovering new evidence
A handwritten book was seized from B.C. serial killer Robert Pickton's prison cell following his death earlier this year, raising hopes of uncovering new evidence in a series of unprosecuted murders.
Former members of One Direction say they're 'completely devastated' by Liam Payne's death
The former members of English boy band One Direction reacted publicly to the sudden death of their bandmate, Liam Payne, for the first time on Thursday, saying in a joint statement that they're 'completely devastated.'
Israel says it has killed top Hamas leader Yayha Sinwar in Gaza
Israeli forces in Gaza killed top Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year's attack on Israel that sparked the war, the military said Thursday. Troops appeared to have run across him unknowingly in a battle, only to discover afterwards that a body in the rubble was Israel's most wanted man.
Indian government employee charged in foiled murder-for-hire plot in New York City
The U.S. Justice Department announced criminal charges Thursday against an Indian government employee in connection with a foiled plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader living in New York City.