The 2017 Coupe Banque Nationale is not a global showcase, but it will matter to Canadians and especially French Canada. The tournament in Quebec doesn’t boast any top-10 players but they have Eugenie Bouchard, who has a superstar status in her home country, and Lucie Safarova, who is a 2013 champion and former Grand Slam finalist to brighten up the event. It’ll be interesting to see how the players respond after the final grand slam of the season. The 2017 U.S. Open ended on Saturday as Sloane Stephens earned her first career grand slam victory.
The competition in the 32-player main draw begins on Monday, September 11. Here’s our preview of the event.
Event Details
Event: Coupe Banque Nationale
Category: WTA International tier
Date: September 11 – 17, 2017
Location: PEPS Universite Laval – Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
The 2017 Coupe Banque Nationale will mark the event’s 25th year on the WTA Tour. This marks a quick return to Canada after the summer Premier 5 event, which alternates between Toronto and nearby Montreal each year.
With a prize money allotment of $250,000, the financial carrot at this tournament is not considerable. This is a chance to build momentum heading into the Asian swing, which hosts the final few particularly significant tournaments of the WTA season.
Points
Champion – 280
Runner-up – 180
Semifinal – 110
Quarterfinal – 60
Round of 16 – 30
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2016: Oceane Dodin def. Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-3
2015: Annika Beck def. Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-2
2014: Mirjana Lucic-Baroni def. Venus Williams 6-4, 6-3
2013: Lucie Safarova def. Marina Erakovic 6-4, 6-3
2012: Kirsten Flipkens def. Lucie Hradecka 6-1, 7-5
Player Info:
Lucie Safarova may be ranked 37th, but she can be a force. The talented Czech hasn’t been in top form this season but had a good U.S. Open, where she beat Anett Kontaveit, Nao Hibino and Kurumi Nara before falling to CoCo Vandeweghe in the round of 16 in two hotly contested sets. Safarova also did well in doubles.
Safarova is slated to play in Quebec, and if she decides to go through with her schedule, she will be severely tested physically and mentally.
Last year, Oceane Dodin beat Lauren Davis in straight sets to capture her first career title. By doing so, the Frenchwoman, at 19, became the youngest player to win a WTA trophy in 2016. Dodin’s power game was too much for Davis, who relied on speed and her steely resolve. Dodin didn’t have a great time in the Big Apple at the U.S. Open this year, but she can take solace from the fact that the player she lost to in the second round — Venus Williams — made the semifinals.
Dodin will return to Quebec City as a defending champion, but there have been five different champions in five years in Canada. In other words, a successful title defense is something which doesn’t happen every day — it’ll take a special effort to change that pattern.
Babos is just 12-22 this season heading into this tournament. However, her three-set loss to global superstar Maria Sharapova says a lot about her ability. Babos played like a player ranked no. 25, which she was at the end of 2016 than 59, the spot she currently holds.
Will she take any positives from the Sharapova match? The Hungarian pushed herself against Sharapova, and that’s the kind of effort Babos would like to put in against lesser opponents.
In Quebec, we’ll see if Babos really learned anything from the famous Russian.
Eugenie Bouchard has reached at least the semifinals at three of the four majors — that’s something not every woman on the WTA Tour can proudly boast. However, Bouchard continues to be in shockingly bad form. She had a disastrous U.S. Open, where she went down to 89th ranked Evgeniya Rodina in straight sets. The Canadian also fell to 13-18 for the season, a disappointment when measured by the high standards she set in the past. Playing in front of her own crowd can get the best of out of her.
PEPS Universite Laval
The tennis complex, with several indoor courts including a stadium court with 2,000 seats, is part of a much larger Olympic sports complex in Quebec City. Swimming and gymnastics are just some of the other sports which can be housed by this university-based campus location.
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