2025 National Bank Open Montreal Players: Meet…

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With eight Canadians guaranteed to play in the main draw, it will be the largest Canadian contingent at the northern WTA 1000 event in decades. The home fans will have plenty to cheer for at the 2025 National Bank Open in Montreal.

From rising teen sensations to veterans saying goodbye, there are tons of storylines for the hosts this summer in Montreal.

With the start of play nearly upon us, let’s meet the Canadians who will be competing at IGA Stadium.

*Note: Ranking and statistics are as of July 14 as listed on wtatennis.com.

Leylah Annie Fernandez

Age: 22
Current Ranking: 35
Career-High: 13
NBO Main-Draw Appearance: Sixth
Best NBO Result: Third round (2023)
Most Recent NBO Result: Second round (2024)
2025 Record: 16-17
Career NBO Record: 4-5

The youngster from next-door Laval is the lone Canadian to get into the 2025 National Bank Open based on ranking. Fernandez returns to her home event looking to improve on her result the last time she played in Montreal, when she reached the third round. That included an epic second-round win over the defending runner-up, 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.

Fernandez is heading into a part of the season where she has generally had more success. In 2024, she reached the quarter-finals of Cincinnati and Tokyo and the semis in Hong Kong.

Victoria Mboko

Age: 18
Current Ranking: 86
Career-High: 86
NBO Main-Draw Appearance: First
2025 Record: 45-8

Finally, Canadian tennis fans will get to see what all the hype is about. 18-year-old Mboko has been one of the bigger stories in 2025 as she opened the season on a 22-match winning streak, the longest by a Canadian woman since the ITF began keeping such records, winning four straight ITF Tour titles. All 22 of those wins were in straight sets. She added a fifth title in her sixth event of the year.

In Miami, Mboko won her first WTA Tour match. She then qualified for her first major at Roland-Garros and reached the third round in her Grand Slam debut. In Rome, she pushed eventual French Open champion Coco Gauff to three sets.

This will be her main draw debut at the National Bank Open and Canadian fans should not miss their chance to get a first look at the rising star.

Bianca Andreescu

Age: 25
Current Ranking: 185
Career-High: 4
NBO Main-Draw Appearance: Seventh
Best NBO Result: Champion (2019)
Most Recent NBO Result: First round (2024)
2025 Record: 8-8
Career NBO Record: 9-5

A tournament at home may be just what the doctor ordered for the 2019 champion. Andreescu has been working her way back to form after missing six months from October to April. She has had some good showings, most notably in Rome where the Mississaugan reached the round of sixteen with wins over Top 20 opponents Donna Vekic and Elena Rybakina.

Andreescu will be making just her third appearance in the main draw in Montreal. A back injury limited her two years ago but the last time she was healthy at IGA Stadium, she got to the third round.

Eugenie Bouchard

Age: 31
Career-High: 5
NBO Main-Draw Appearance: 10th
Best NBO Result: Third round (2016)
Most Recent NBO Result: First round (2019)
2025 Record: 0-1 (Doubles)
Career NBO Record: 4-9

Bouchard, the first Canadian ever to reach a Grand Slam singles final, will call it a career after the National Bank Open. Fittingly, her swan song will come in her hometown. It will be the Montrealer’s first appearance in the National Bank Open main draw since 2019 and her first time playing in Montreal since 2018.

The former Wimbledon runner-up made her return to the tour after nearly a year off last week in Newport, losing in the first round of singles but picking up a win in doubles with Olivia Lincer before bowing out in round two.

Rebecca Marino

Age: 34
Current Ranking: 117
Career-High: 38
NBO Main-Draw Appearance: Sixth
Best NBO Result: Third round (2021)
Most Recent NBO Result: First round (2024)
2025 Record: 13-15
Career NBO Record: 2-5

The veteran in the Canadian contingent will be looking to replicate her 2021 run in Montreal, which was her best ever at the WTA 1000 level. That year, she caused a pair of upsets by taking out big names Madison Keys and Paula Badosa before top seed Aryna Sabalenka finally put her away in the third round.

2024 was a career year for Marino where she won the four biggest titles of her career, including her first WTA 125 title in November in Midland, Michigan. She also just reached another WTA 125 final in Ilkley, UK, last month on grass.

Marina Stakusic

Age: 20
Current Ranking: 142
Career-High: 114
NBO Main-Draw Appearance: Second
Best NBO Result: Second round (2024)
Most Recent NBO Result: Second round (2024)
2025 Record: 10-14
Career NBO Record: 1-1

Montrealers will get their first chance to see the 2023 Billie Jean King Cup hero in the main draw this year. Stakusic has played in qualifying before at IGA Stadium but her lone main draw at the National Bank Open was last year in Toronto, where she picked up her first match win at the WTA 1000 level over Erika Andreeva.

Like Marino, Stakusic also won the biggest title of her career last fall at the WTA 125 level, with her victory coming in Tampico, Mexico. Her best result on the main tour in 2025 came in Romania, where the 20-year-old qualified for the main draw and beat world No. 64 Sorana Cirstea in the first round of the WTA 250 event.

Carson Branstine

Age: 24
Current Ranking: 178
Career-High: 178
NBO Main-Draw Appearance: First
2025 Record: 27-15

Another Canadian on the rise, Branstine will be competing at her first WTA 1000 event this summer in Montreal. She has appeared in just two WTA Tour events so far in her career, both during the recent grass court season. The former NCAA player impressed at Wimbledon, beating Roland-Garros semifinalist Lois Boisson and Andreescu on her way to qualifying for her first Grand Slam main draw.

Branstine will just be hoping to avoid the top seed again. In both her previous tour-level events, she drew the No. 1 seed. She lost to Sabalenka at Wimbledon but did manage to upset Liudmila Samsonova for her first WTA Tour match win in s-Hertogenbosch.

Kayla Cross

Age: 20
Current Ranking: 230
Career-High: 217
NBO Main-Draw Appearance: First
2025 Record: 12-8

Cross earned her spot in the Montreal main draw by winning the Road to the NBO, accumulating the most points at Canadian pro events over the last 12 months. That included a title at the ITF event in Saskatoon and a runner-up finish at the Tevlin Challenger in Toronto.

The 20-year-old picked up a title earlier this year on the ITF Tour in Arcadia, California. She has had more success on the ITF Tour in doubles so far in her young career and made her Billie Jean King Cup debut for Team Canada earlier this year during the qualifiers in Tokyo, going 1-1 with Rebecca Marino.

*Please note, the rankings could change by the start of play on July 26.

The WTA's best return to Montreal this summer for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers July 26 to Aug. 7, 2025 at IGA Stadium. 2025 Tickets are on sale. Get your tickets today!

Feature Photo: Peter Power