The International Junior tennis Canadian Open will be this year in his 27th edition in our town. Such longevity confer to the event a prestige which transcends easily the Quebec and Canadian borders. The most important junior tennis event in the country, the Internationals has a success recognized from all over the world. With over two decades of history and success, a review of where we come from is important.
1986 marked the arrival of the Internationals to Repentigny. However it is not a new competition that the organizing committee inherits. The tournament already had a long history of almost hundred-years-old. Canadian Lawn Tennis Association authorized the holding of a first male event to least than 18 years old in 1895. The winners will however be listed only from 1918, the first one being certain Jack Calder of Canadian origin. The feminine counterpart started in 1946. Among the most famous champions of the era ”pre-Repentigny”, the Australians Rod Laver ( 1956 ) and Pat Cash ( 1981 ), as well as the naturalized French Yannick Noah ( 1977 ) Cameroonian. The closure of the Four Seasons interior Club from Laval, where were held the Internationals since 1983, allowed Repentigny to be confirmed as city host.
Fifty six athletes, 28 girls and as much boys from about twenty countries, will answer our call during this initial presentation to Larochelle park. 3000 spectators attended the event during this week of August, among others, and they had the immense luck to admire illustrious Jim Courier and Michael Chang, the first players (to become stars) to play on our ground. They will be afterward imitated by tens, even hundreds of others (more than two hundreds juniors who played at Repentigny graduated to the pros – some to the highest WTA ranking level).
The second edition confirmed the status of the event as a “competition icon” at the world level. The tournament received a category A ranking. That decision of the International Federation of tennis, so admitted the Internationals to the select group of the ten biggest junior tennis events on the planet. The naming “After London and Paris, before New York, Repentigny presents…”, will stick to the event and it’s still today.
