Four events, two for the men and two for the women, on the Road to the NBO took place in the first two weeks of March. There is now a pause before the big sprint to claim the National Bank Open main-draw wildcard this summer.
As of Mar. 17, the two frontrunners continue to hold big leads heading into the final events. But, especially on the men’s side, it’s not over yet as all the remaining tournaments in the Road to the NBO will count double.
Liam Draxl did not compete at the two M15 events in Sherbrooke and Montreal earlier in March but he still finds himself out front in the men’s standings after titles last fall in Edmonton and Saint-Augustin. He has twice as many points as second-place Alexis Galarneau with three events to play.
However, as all three of those tournaments count for double points, there is still plenty of room for the field to catch up to the man from Newmarket.
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Joshua Lapadat picked up the most ground during the March events in Quebec. He did not participate in any of the fall tournaments that counted towards the Road to the NBO but now sits in third place behind Draxl and Galarneau after reaching the final in Montreal. He also got a point for reaching the second round in Sherbrooke.
There are still as many as 350 points up for grabs if a player were to win all three remaining events ahead of the National Bank Open. The M25 event in Laval, QC, is next up on the calendar beginning on June 30. It will be followed by back-to-back M75s in Winnipeg, MB, and Granby, QC.
With so many points up for grabs at the remaining events, there is still plenty of time for a shakeup in the men’s standings.
The same cannot be said for the women. The two W15 events did little to shake up the race as Kayla Cross continues to hold a commanding lead in the standings. Despite not playing in either Trois-Rivieres or Montreal, the 19-year-old is in the pole position with one event to go, leading Rebecca Marino by 45 points.
Only four women picked up points at the March ITF events: Ariana Arseneault (6), Clémence Mercier (3), Nadia Lagaev (1), and Raphaelle Lacasse (1). As a result of her semifinal run in Montreal, Arseneault was able to climb past Cadence Brace into fourth in the standings but is still 65 points back of Cross.
The W75 event in Granby, QC, July 13-20, will be the last chance for anyone to catch Cross. With the points counting double in Granby, theoretically any player could still sneak up and catch the Londoner if they won the title, which is worth 150 points.
Only six women can catch Cross without winning the title: Marino, Stacey Fung, Arseneault, Brace, Katherine Sebov, and Mia Kupres. Marino and Fung need to at least reach the semifinals, while the other four all have to reach the final to even have a chance of catching Cross.
But that is without taking Cross’ result into account, as she controls her own fate, as much as a tennis player can at least, heading into the final event. The 19-year-old reached the Granby final last year and would clinch the wildcard by winning the title. If she reaches the final again, only Marino could snatch it away by winning the title. If Cross gets to the semifinals, she would eliminate everyone except Marino, Fung, Arseneault and Brace.
CLICK HERE for the latest standings in the Road to the NBO.
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Feature Photo : Pascal Ratthe
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