Q and A: NBO Toronto Tournament Director Karl…

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The 2025 National Bank Open presented by Rogers is now less than 150 days away and we sat down with Toronto Tournament Director Karl Hale to discuss how things are shaping up ahead of the tournament.

This year, the best men's tennis players are back in Toronto with the biggest field in tournament history. Hale breaks down the goings-on so far this year on the ATP Tour and explains why the expanded format will be a boon for tennis fans.

*The following interview has been edited purely for clarity and flow purposes.

Tennis Canada: What are your thoughts on the Australian Open and what you've seen so far this season on the ATP Tour?

Karl Hale: One of the things you see with the top players is that everybody was surprised that Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz. Everybody thought that Carlos, especially after losing to him at the Olympics, would be really geared up and at the top of his game and Novak just neutralized him and beat him. So a lot of players are really, really surprised by that result.

As far as Jannik Sinner, he is showing absolute dominance above the field. He's just at a level we haven't seen since those top guys dominated for the years they did. He has really taken the torch from the Big Three as the leader at this time and I think the players have a lot of work to do to catch up to him because he's just so far ahead as far as physicality, ball speed, his mental capacity, his shot selection. He's just really dominating everybody on all grounds. And he's got a great coach, Darren Cahill behind him. So great season to start off.

And then obviously with our Canadians, it's amazing to see Denis not just win a tournament but to beat three Top 10 guys back-to-back-to-back which is where we all expected him to be years ago so it's good to see him turn it around.

And Felix is the same. They're finding their way back to that Top 10 level. I think over the next few months, we'll see them have more good results like that and the key is against the top players, can they compete with the top players which is what they are showing they can do.

Tennis Canada: What are you most looking forward to about the new 2025 format?

Karl Hale: It's a 96 draw so there's a lot more players, a lot more variety for our fans to see some of their favourites. We used to have a 56 draw so the added benefit is that you're going to see more of these up-and-comers who are ranked 70-80 in the world that are on their way to the top rankings. You're going to see some veterans that have dropped in the rankings that are still trying to get their way back up. You're going to see some really great early-round matches. I’m really looking forward to seeing more variety in our tournament.

Also one of the things that is really exciting is our format finishing on Thursday. We're only having night matches from Monday to Thursday so it will be a really great atmosphere for those nights.

Obviously, the Canadians are playing so well. We've always wanted a Canadian champion and this year looks like the year where the players are playing at a level where that is possible.

Tennis Canada: Who are some up-and-coming players who might be playing in Toronto that will be new to the tournament that fans should keep an eye on?

Karl Hale: Joao Fonseca just won the tournament in Argentina. Last year, he came on the radar, he won the NextGen Finals, and he's really stepping up as the next guy that looks like he can do something. He would be the one at this point that you can look out for.

Tennis Canada: How is the preparation going for the tournament this summer? Anything you can share with us?

Karl Hale: There are a lot of first-time things this year: the tournament starts on a Saturday for the first time and it’s a one-day qualifying, main draw starts on Sunday, finishing on night matches from Monday to Thursday.

There's a lot of activations that we have coming that fans will learn about soon. On site at Sobeys Stadium, we will have Canadiana-themed areas that will act as cheering sections where our fans can cheer on our Canadian players.

We're going to have great, great food and beverage areas, much improved this year. We've improved it a lot over the last four years and we're going to continue to improve. We have great prices in the food and beverage areas, the best in the sports business we feel.

We want to be really good to our fans, to make them enjoy the experience at an affordable cost. We have really affordable tickets to reach out to all of our fans, especially in the early sessions. Those are good dates for fans that want to get affordable tickets to watch the top players.

We're going to see a lot of great results in the next four-five months and it will lead well into Toronto.

The ATP's best return to Toronto this summer for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers July 27 to Aug. 7, 2025 at Sobeys Stadium. 2025 Tickets are on sale. Get your tickets today!

Feature Photo: Tyler Anderson