Despite missing Victoria Mboko, National Bank Open closes in on Toronto attendance record

A National Bank Open that initially seemed doomed in Toronto without hometown defending champion Victoria Mboko was closing out Thursday with record attendance, some new fans and a finalist who could threaten to take over the world’s No. 1 spot.

In the hours before the singles final at the WTA Masters 1000 tournament on Thursday, tournament director Karl Hale estimated the total attendance for the 12-day event will be between 215,000 and 216,000. That’s a new record for the WTA event in Toronto, said Hale, and a number on par with the ATP’s attendance at Sobeys Stadium over the years.

The tournament had taken a big hit when the popular Canadian Mboko announced she wouldn’t defend her title due to a knee injury. The 19-year-old World No. 12 still attended the tournament for some events with fans.

But once the event began, the attention gravitated to trailblazing Alex Eala from the Philippines, the phenom who arrived in Toronto fresh off her first-ever WTA title in Washington, D.C. The World No. 20 attracted the city’s Filipino community to the tournament by the thousands, just as she has at several WTA stops around the world. They came to cheer her with Filipino flags, shirts, hats and hand-made signs.

“It was just unprecedented. We’ve never seen anything like that in Toronto before,” said Hale. “Every match she played, it sold out. She was just so engaging with her fans and the community. It was really beautiful to see her so loyal to her fans. The fans just get so excited about her.”

While the ATP’s NB Open in Montreal struggled to get the tour’s top talent, the WTA event in Toronto had nine of the top 10 players competing. Its four semi-finalists were all ranked inside the top 10. That’s something that hadn’t happened at the Canadian Open since 2000, when the dazzling final four were Martina Hingis, Serena Williams, Conchita Martinez and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario.

Thursday evening’s final has plenty at stake for both players: World No. 2 Elena Rybakina and No. 8 Iga Swiatek are both Grand Slam champions. Swiatek stood to return to the top five by winning the trophy. Should Rybakina win, she would surge within four points of eclipsing Aryna Sabalenka, who has held the tour’s No. 1 spot since October, 2024.

Canadian, U.S. tennis federations met during NBO to talk about growing the game

The women will return to Montreal in 2027, where they will have equal prize money at the event for the first time. The men will play in Toronto, and Hale said organizers will work to discuss a recurring problem: why the ATP’s top players often skip the Canadian Open, like several did this year again in Montreal.

“We’re a mandatory event. We want all of the top players here,” said Hale. “So, after this tournament we have meetings in New York, and we’re going to meet with the tours, and try to ensure that we have the top player field like we did this year, nine of the top 10 players.”