The 1000-level ATP and WTA events will feature 96-player fields—up from 56—and allow for an extra round, continuing the trend toward longer tournaments that began in 2023.
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The National Bank Open confirmed that the 2025 edition of their tournaments will take place over 12 days, the event announced on Wednesday.
“This upgrade in status sees the NBO join an elite group of six extended combined events on the WTA and ATP Tours, bringing the format of Canada’s premier tennis tournaments closer to that of a Grand Slam,” Tennis Canada revealed in its official press release.
The combined event, which alternates hosting an ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 in Toronto and Montréal, will increase its respective fields from 56 to 96 players, matching the BNP Paribas Open, Miami Open, Mutua Madrid Open, Internazionali BNL d’Italia, and the Cincinnati Open, which is also scheduled to become a two-week tournament in 2025.
The NBO’s “redefinition” is part of the sport’s larger plan to introduce equal prize money at all 1000-level tournaments, a plan that was first revealed in the summer of 2023 following the expansion of clay-court tournaments in Madrid and Rome.
“In the end, it takes collective work to make something like this happen,” said NBO Montréal tournament director Valérie Tétreault. “What the players have is a voice and a platform to make sure they can bring attention to topics like this. That helps them rally more people, and that’s usually how we can start making change. I think that’s what we’ve seen in the last couple of years.
“If you look at the story of the WTA, that’s how this all started with Billie Jean King, so it’s so important that the players are aware of the business of sport, and that they can talk about it in order to fight for what they think is right.”
It’s quite demanding on both the mind and body to be in a new city every week, to be playing back-to-back matches. So, I think if you want to have a long career in tennis, you need to find the right balance to be able to have a life outside of the tennis courts. I think this new format will allow for that… Valérie Tétreault, National Bank Open Montréal Tournament Director
A former WTA player, Tétreault was supportive of the move toward longer tournaments, arguing the change in schedule will prevent injuries and preserve players’ mental health.
“It’s quite demanding on both the mind and body to be in a new city every week, to be playing back-to-back matches,” she explained. “So, I think if you want to have a long career in tennis, you need to find the right balance to be able to have a life outside of the tennis courts. I think this new format will allow for that: when you visit a city, you’ll have a little more time to enjoy yourself and see more than just the hotel room and tennis courts.
“For the tennis fans over here, it means they’ll be able to experience more tennis and that hopefully even bring in new fans who never got the chance to experience our tournament in the past. Right now, we have 15 sessions of tennis in our event; we’re going to go up by 10 more sessions, and so that’s quite significant.”
Part of that enhanced fan experience will be the addition of six night sessions and an extra round of action, culminating with a Thursday finals day that will crown both men’s and women’s champions.
“As Canadians, it’s great to see our home event getting even bigger and better,” said WTA player Leylah Annie Fernandez. “It’s always a highlight of the year to play at the National Bank Open in Montréal or Toronto, and I can’t wait to see the positive impact this new format will have on the fans, the cities and Canadian tennis.”
Click here to learn more about the planned changes to the National Bank Open, which will take effect in 2025.
