“I feel like we were still in adjustment mode. But I think we managed to do the best we could with the conditions we had.” The final of the National Bank Open was not yet over when its director gave a positive assessment of the event, despite the rain that continued to spoil the party.
“If it wasn’t for the rain, I would have come to announce a new attendance record,” said the director of the National Bank Open, Valérie Tétreault, at the outset.
There were only two days out of nine on the calendar that were not affected by rain. “Adaptability” is therefore the word that sums up the week. She herself had to learn how to handle the industrial dryer to dry the surface after a rainstorm. “I felt a little helpless in that situation and I hate not being in action, so it was a little bit my way to fight the rain,” she sighed.
The schedule disruption even forced the organizers to present three tennis sessions on the same day, something never seen before for the ATP.
Some 227,000 fans still bought tickets for the National Bank Open, slightly below last year’s attendance record of 237,000. If it weren’t for the cancellations due to the vagaries of Mother Nature, Valérie Tétreault has no doubt that this year’s results would have “pulverized” the previous record for tickets sold.
Unlike the rain, the Canadian stars were not there. The quick defeats of Félix Auger-Aliassime or Denis Shapovalov, as well as the withdrawal of Milos Raonic also probably played in the public’s interest.
The Omnium will return next year with an extended format, with more matches, but still without a roof over the courts to compensate for the vagaries of the weather. This schedule with five more days will offer a “little more room to maneuver” to Valérie Tétreault, who is in her second edition as director.
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