Grand Slam Players Included in Men’s Field at Odlum Brown VanOpen

Four-time Odlum Brown VanOpen Champion Dudi Sela Returns to Hollyburn

Vancouver, BC – The Odlum Brown VanOpen is pleased to announce the men’s field which will compete in the $200,000 USD event, August 12 – 20 at the Hollyburn Country Club in West Vancouver. The field is the strongest in the tournament’s history, with eight players ranked among the top 100 in the world.

“We are excited to have such a high quality field in our 2017 men’s event featuring four-time Odlum Brown VanOpen Singles champion Dudi Sela leading the charge,” said Tournament Director Rik de Voest. “With eight players ranked inside the top 100 in the world, a further six to eight players who have previously been ranked inside the top 100, and three of the top five Canadian mens singles players entered, the caliber of play will be exceptional this year.”

Overall, twelve of the men’s main draw participants at this year’s Odlum Brown VanOpen competed in the main draw earlier this month at Wimbledon, with three of them advancing as far as the third round. The players on the list are in addition to rising Canadian stars Denis Shapovalov and Benjamin Sigouin, who were announced last week to play in the tournament.

Israel’s Dudi Sela is currently World No. 74, Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei is ranked No. 77, Aussie Jordan Thompson is ranked No. 79, Marius Copil of Romania is 86th overall, Slovakia native Norbert Gombos is No. 87, Japan’s Taro Daniel is ranked No. 92, Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium is World No. 93 and Switzerland’s Henri Laaksonen is ranked No. 95.

Sela is a four-time winner of the Odlum Brown VanOpen, compiling a 23-1 record during his career at the tournament. He is just the fifth player in Challenger history to win four or more titles at the same tournament. The 32-year-old has a career high ranking of World No. 29, which came in July 2009.

Lu’s career high ranking is No. 33 and he reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2010. The 33-year-old has 27 ATP Challenger titles to his name and holds career wins over former World No. 1s Andy Roddick and Andy Murray.

Thompson, 23, posted a first round upset win over Andy Murray at last month’s Aegon Championships, making him the first Australian player to beat Murray in an ATP-level singles match. He won men’s doubles at this year’s Brisbane International.

Copil has a serve that’s been measured at 240 km/h. The 26-year-old is a member of Romania’s Davis Cup team, with a 10-5 record in singles. Copil beat current World No. 6 Marin Cilic in the first round of the 2012 China Open.

A member of the Slovakian Davis Cup team, Gombos is a ten time finalist on the ATP Challenger Tour, winning four titles. The 26-year-old played in his first Grand Slam main draw last month at Wimbledon.

Daniel is a veteran of the Odlum Brown VanOpen, playing in the tournament in 2014 and 2015. The 24-year-old made it to the quarterfinals in 2014 before falling to eventual champion and former World No. 8 Marcos Baghdatis.

Bemelmans won the men’s doubles title at the 2012 Odlum Brown VanOpen with compatriot Maxime Authom. The 29-year-old made it to the third round of the US Open in 2015 and at Wimbldeon this year.

Laaksonen, 25, represented Finland until 2011 and has represented Switzerland since. He is 3-0 in ATP Challenger Tour Finals, including back-to-back wins at the JSM Challenger of Champaign–Urbana.