TALK OF A ROOF AT AVIVA CENTRE HEATS UP AFTER RAIN DAMPENS WEEK

Organizers of the Rogers Cup are in the initial stages of making plans to make the rain go away — forever.

After a week at the Aviva Centre on the campus of York University that saw several delays because of inclement weather, tournament director Karl Hale said on Sunday that talks regarding a roof over centre court have started.

“We’re looking at it,” Hale said. “We’re just in the beginning process of it. With a week like this, you can see the need for it. We’ll start the process of looking into that further.”

Hale said a roof, which would not be permanent, would cost in the range of $70 million to $80 million.

“It would be a public/private endeavour,” Hale said. “(Centre court) would be covered for nine out of 12 months.”

While each match eventually was played, there were a couple of late nights because of rain delays. There was a kerfuffle on Wednesday when top Canadian Denis Shapovalov tweeted his frustration at one of his matches being moved to the lower-capacity grandstand court from centre court. Shapovalov quickly deleted the tweet, but his point was made.

Speaking of the 19-yearold Shapovalov, Hale is of a similar mind to others when he considers what Shapovalov and 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime represent for men’s singles tennis in Canada.

“No,” Hale said with a smile when he was asked whether he could recall a time when Canada has had two male teenagers with the kind of potential that Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime have at their fingertips.

“To have two players that are potential top-10, top-five players is tremendous for the future of tennis in Canada,” Hale said. “And don’t forget about (27-year-old) Milos (Raonic). He still has a lot of game left in him, and he won’t give up his spot to them.

“So the future is really bright, not just for the Rogers Cup, but for Davis Cup and also for tennis in Canada. You’re looking at (the possibility of) a 10-year window of tremendous and new accomplishments in Canada. We’re humble as Canadians are, but we are very excited about the future.”

Overall, Hale deemed the tournament, which drew in excess of 150,000 fans, a success. Paid parking during the week was down from past years, but that was because of the fans’ usage of the nearby Pioneer Village subway station, which opened in December.

And also like every observer, Hale was impressed with the performance of Athens native Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat four top-10 players before losing to Rafael Nadal in the final on Sunday, which happened to be Tsitsipas’ 20th birthday. Part of Tsitsipas’ week in Toronto included visiting the Danforth for dinner.

“He’s a star in the making,” Hale said. “He’s a humble Roger Federer-like personality. We expect great things from him.”

We’re looking at it. “We’re just in the beginning process of it. With a week like this, you can see the need for it. We’ll start the process of looking into that further.”

Karl Hale