Canadians Cross, Kupres, Arseneault Sweep Saskatoon

The host nation continued its dominance in Western Canada with a sweep at the ITF W35 event in Saskatoon last week. Kayla Cross won the singles title while Ariana Arseneault and Mia Kupres picked up the doubles crown. 

Cross’ victory in the singles marked the third year in a row that the title was won by a Canadian, although that streak was already guaranteed by early Saturday when Kupres defeated the last non-Canadian standing, Jessica Failla, in the first semifinal.  

With the second semi pitting Cross against fellow Canadian and top seed Stacey Fung, the hosts were guaranteed a home winner once again following Victoria Mboko’s back-to-back titles in 2022-2023. 

It is the first professional singles title of the 19-year-old’s career. She was denied on home soil last month at an ITF event in Granby but a couple of provinces over, she got the job done, rallying from a set down to defeat Kupres in the final 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. 

Cross defeated a Canadian in all five of her matches. She started with two wins over promising juniors Nadia Lagaev and Emma Dong back-to-back then cruised past Arseneault and Fung, losing just three games in each match, before having her toughest test against Kupres in the final. 

Kupres did not leave Saskatoon empty-handed, however. She and Arseneault continued their brilliant summer of 2024 by claiming their second title as a team in just their third tournament together. 

Fresh off a title in their debut in Granby and then reaching the quarter-finals of the WTA 1000 National Bank Open in Toronto, the two NCAA players were the top seeds in Saskatoon and played like it, not dropping a set on their way to victory. 

They beat a fellow all-Canadian pair of Catherine Gagnon and Alexia Jacobs in the semifinals and then bested second seeds Hiroko Kuawata of Japan and Maribella Zamarripa of the United States in the final 6-4, 6-3. 

The Saskatoon victory is Arseneault’s fourth ITF doubles title and third for Kupres, who also won the NCAA national team title with Texas A&M this spring.