NBO director hopes for ‘better solution’ in future after Felix match not televised

By Canadian Press on August 1, 2025.

TORONTO — The tournament director of the National Bank Open said he was hopeful “there will be a better solution” in the future after tennis viewers were unable to see Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime play in his home country this week.

“Obviously what happened, we didn’t want that to happen,” Karl Hale said Friday at a mid-tournament news conference at Sobeys Stadium.

Longtime domestic rights-holder Sportsnet did not offer on-site production for the first half of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 event, which expanded to a 96-player format this season. Normally a weeklong event, competition is now spread out over 12 days.

Over the first few rounds, the network has used an ATP world feed. It featured side court action involving international players Wednesday night rather than the Auger-Aliassime match on Centre Court.

When asked whether he was confident Sportsnet would produce the full event in the future, Hale sounded optimistic.

“We’re going to have these discussions,” he said. “We’ve already started it. So I think there will be a better solution going forward as we move along.”

In an email, a Sportsnet spokesman said that production would begin Saturday. The three-person broadcast team includes play-by-play man Rob Faulds, analyst Jimmy Arias and court reporter Jesse Levine.

Auger-Aliassime, at No. 21 the highest-seeded Canadian in the draw, lost his opening match to Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan. A day earlier, 22nd-seeded Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., fell to American Learner Tien.

Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo, the No. 27 seed, was the last Canadian remaining in the singles draw. He was scheduled to play second-seeded American Taylor Fritz on Friday night.

The ATP Tour and WTA Tour events alternate between Toronto and Montreal each year. When the men were last here in 2023, Sportsnet also had a separate broadcast team on site to cover grandstand court matches.

The network spokesman declined to comment on why broadcast plans were changed this year.

Sportsnet is part of Rogers Sports & Media, which is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications. Rogers is a presenting sponsor of the US$9.19-million tournament, which continues through Thursday night.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2025.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press