Tennis fans will be able to see in action the 2024 Roland-Garros junior champion who will be part of the main draw of the 3rd edition of the M25 tournament which will take place from November 4 to 10 in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures.
Aged only 18, the American Kaylan Bigun won on the Parisian ocher this summer. He is ranked 799th in the ATP even though he is still of junior age. “At the same age, he is a player of the caliber of Félix (Auger-Aliassime) who also won a Junior Grand Slam (US Open) in 2016,” said tournament director Pierre-Luc Tessier. Our tournament exists to discover the next stars of the circuit. When a young person wins a Junior Grand Slam, there is a good chance that we will find ourselves between the Top 10 and the Top 20 in the future.
Ranked 2nd in the world among juniors, Bigun could only be passing through once. “He will climb the ladder very quickly,” said Tessier. It’s another level of tennis. He will quickly find himself in the $80,000 tournaments as Denis Shapovalov and Ugo (Humbert) did in the past. He is a player of this caliber. We will make sure he is in action during the evening sessions.”
Four players in the Top 350
Excited by the presence of the young American, Tessier is also excited by the quality of the main draw. “This is the edition where the caliber is the highest,” he said. The presence of the $80,000 tournament in Drummondville a week later helps us a lot. For the first time in three years, we will have five guys in the Top 350 in the world. We notably find the Canadian Liam Drayl (272nd) who has just won the Calgary tournament and who has the best ranking of his career.
A Quebecer playing in the NCAA will also be part of the main draw of 32 players. Wearing the colors of the Kentucky Wildcats, the same program where Gabriel Diallo studied, Montrealer Taha Baadi will also be present.
Tennis Canada will distribute the final four passes to the main draw in the days leading up to the tournament.
Qualifications will take place on November 4 and 5. Highest ranked player of the UniT Academy, Hubert Poirier obtained a pass for the qualifying table just like the Frenchman Max Hazelart who wears the colors of the Rouge et Or of Laval University and who earned his pass by winning the prequalifying tournament a month ago.
Eight players from qualifying will continue their journey.
