Day 17 – Finals

Day 17 and the NBSPO comes to an end for 2024.

Singles Finals, always the showcase event at tennis tournaments had a unique flavour this year, featuring four players who have come up through the Tennis BC and Tennis Canada systems, moved on to Collegiate tennis in the States (or moving on to collegiate tennis in one case), and returned home this summer to play right here in Stanley Park.

The Women’s Singles final featured Leena Bennetto, an ITA Scholar athlete at Princeton, and Reece Carter, All-Pac-12 First Team player at University of Arizona last year, and now transferring to University of Washington. Both of these players honed their tennis skills right here in BC and Reece is a past Stanley Park champion.

The match featured big serves from both women right from the start. Bennetto came out strong and seemed to be getting the upper hand in the first set, but Carter seemed to find her stride after a slightly tentative start, taking the first set 6-1. Bennetto continued to find a way to get the edge on Carter, but Carter played with a determined resolve, taking the second set 6-1. It was to be the first of two titles for Carter as she and partner, Henry Ren, went on to win the mixed in a thrilling tie break.

The Men’s Singles Final, scheduled to go on at 2:00 pm was the first and only match of the 2024 delayed by rain! After an incredible run of sunshine, a light rain fell, pushing the final back to 2:30 pm.

The rain did not seem to dampen the crowd’s enthusiasm for the Men’s final featuring Henry Ren and Connor Church. Henry and Connor both played their junior tennis right here in BC. Henry now attends Dartmouth College, playing on the varsity tennis team there. 17-year-old Connor Church will be attending University of Southern California in the autumn and is a varsity tennis team prospect.

Once it got under way, the Men’s Final did not disappoint. The players’ contrasting styles made for an exciting match. Ren has immense power and fearlessness, while Church is more conservative and contained. Church took the first set 6-2, and it seemed like Ren had perhaps expended his energy the previous day in the Singles Semi, the Men’s Doubles Semi and Final, and the Mixed Final (concluded on Sunday due to darkness), but he rallied in the second set, thrilling the crowd as he won it 6-3. The crowd, wanting to see more, got behind Ren, buoying him along, but the third set went to a relentlessly precise Church who took the match 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

We would like to thank the many players, volunteers, staff members, sponsors, and spectators! An especial thanks to Tournament Director, Iverson Guan who went above and beyond. Until next year. . .

Feature Sponsor: National Bank

Tennis BC thanks National Bank for their continued support of the Stanley Park Open, Girls.Set.Match., Play Your Court, and many other initiatives.

A ball, a racquet, for a stronger community. A bank with a human touch that stands out for its boldness, entrepreneurial culture, and passion for people. With $370 billion in assets as of April 30, 2022, National Bank of Canada and its subsidiaries form one of Canada’s leading integrated financial groups. The Bank has more than 28,000 employees in knowledge-intensive positions and has been recognized numerous times as a top employer for its commitment to diversity.

Learn more here.