Despite his devastating loss at the French Open on Wednesday, Canadian tennis star Felix Auger-Aliassime and his compatriots are helping to grow the sport’s popularity. Tennis Canada data shows that participation in the country is on the rise. Last year, six million Canadians hit the courts, an increase of over a million since 2023. Quebec has the highest participation in Canada, with 18 per cent of the population playing the sport in 2025. “We have some great athletes that are from Quebec that are performing really well on the international scene,” said National Bank Open tournament director Valérie Tétreault. “I think that does help, maybe inspire some kids and even older people to want to pick up a racket and try the sport.” Pierre Bazinet is playing for the first time in five years. “We have an office close by, and it was a discussion that we had last year, ‘There’s plenty of tennis courts over there. We should play,’” he told CTV News. Tétreault had a hit at IGA Stadium’s centre court on Wednesday, where the prestigious tournament is held in August. Auger-Aliassime and other top men on the ATP tour will be in Montreal. Last year, the sold-out crowd of more than 12,000 fans watched a star being born when 18-year-old, Burlington, Ont. native Vicky Mboko was crowned the women’s singles champion. “During those two weeks, during the summer, everyone all of a sudden is interested by tennis,” said Tétreault. Tennis Canada says the sport has grown in popularity with children aged 12 to 17, and registration is up for its own programs. “It brings more accessible equipment for kids to learn the sport, and with the type of rackets we have and the balls that you can learn with, you can be playing tennis in five or 10 minutes,” said Tennis Canada CEO Gavin Ziv. The survey says that the lifelong sport is third in participation in Canada, behind soccer and basketball. “I think it’s good for the sport,” said tennis aficionado Robert Yanire . “Good for the body, the health. Even if sometimes we have some little injuries, at the end, we feel good when we play tennis.” Though it’s known as a summer game, Tennis Canada says it is aiming to make it more accessible in the winter. “Some of our focus right now is going to infrastructure,” said Tétreault. “Make sure that we can, maybe by adding some bubbles, just create more opportunities to play tennis year round.” This would help, as 41 per cent of Quebecers say they are likely to play a match in the coming year.
