The National Bank Open and the urgency to reinvent yourself

As of July 26, 2025, the National Bank Open (OBN) will enter “a new era”. More important, longer and more voluminous, the tournament led by Valérie Tétreault must be overhauled to become a real reference. And at the end of 2024, time is running out.

“We have been preparing for this expansion for several years,” recalled Valérie Tétreault, vice-president of communications and professional tournaments, on Tuesday during Tennis Canada’s annual review.

She even spoke of a “major development”.

The tournament will be extended from 7 to 12 days. It will welcome 96 players instead of 56. Then, the final will be played on a Thursday, August 7, the same day as the birthdays of Sidney Crosby and Bruno Pelletier.

All these changes motivate M^me Tétreault. After all, “it’s an entry into an even more select group.” Only six tournaments span such a long period.

However, Montreal does not yet meet the infrastructure requirements of the WTA and ATP. And this is Valérie Tétreault’s biggest project.

Also read: “Tennis Canada’s revised expectations”

Financing

The Cincinnati tournament, sold by the American tennis federation to a private investor in 2022, recently announced the completion of work valued at $260 million. Cincinnati, another North American Masters 1000 tournament organized in the same period as the OBN, is an interesting comparison for Valérie Tétreault, even if the Canadian tournament is supported and organized by the federation itself.

The Rome tournament, however, remains the best inspiration for the tournament director, “because it is organized by the Italian tennis federation. And the tournament also serves as a driving force to ensure the development of tennis there.”

In Rome, the organizers plan to install a roof over the center court in 2026. A major investment which could also benefit the IGA stadium.

For the moment, however, the organizers of the Montreal tournament must prioritize finding more fields. This constraint is part of the requirements of the two professional circuits.

“We will receive approximately double the players. We will need more training grounds and also more space if we want to ensure the sustainability of our tournament in the long term. In the coming months, we will work with the City of Montreal to find short, medium and long term solutions,” insisted Valérie Tétreault.

In particular, she wishes to find a “satellite site” on the island of Montreal, where players can train during the week, as the number of fields at the IGA stadium is insufficient. “We lack enough to meet these criteria. »

The circuits approved the exemption request from the OBN organizers for this year, “but it is clear that we need a plan to present to the circuit to show them how we will correct the situation”.

And beyond this issue, Valérie Tétreault confided that some players on the circuit complained about the aging of the facilities and the lack of space on the center court.

And whether the financial assistance comes from municipal, provincial or private sector sources like in Cincinnati, “it’s going to take a helping hand. A boost that we don’t receive on an annual basis,” said M.^me Tétreault.

But before launching requests to different levels of government, she and her group will work on a feasibility study “for the upgrade of the IGA stadium”. The results of this study should be presented during the next tournament in July.

The roof

The last two OBN tournaments took place in the rain. An imponderable, certainly, the consequences of which could be reduced with the addition of a roof. As with every assessment, Valérie Tétreault returned to the benefits of such a project, but also to its limiting constraints.

Having a roof would become a considerable asset. M^me Tétreault is the first to recognize it. Especially since “the competition between tournaments is increasingly fierce. We see promoters investing in tournaments and that puts even more pressure on us. For now, that relegates us to the list of Masters 1000 tournaments.”

The feasibility study discussed would also serve to define the contours of such a project. In fact, M^me Tétreault wants to “understand what the different options are”.

Last year, she held conversations with François Legault’s government. “They still showed a good opening. But they have not received any official requests, so the ball is in our court and that is why we are attacking this project for 2025.”