SYMBOL OF VICTORY
Canada 150 inspired redesign of trophy,
It’s no coincidence a new trophy design for the Rogers Cup coincides with Canada 150 celebrations.
“The tournament has a great history in Canada,” says Gavin Ziv, vicepresident of professional and national events with Tennis Canada. This country has played an important role in the history of tennis, he says, and the sport has since become “part of the Canadian fabric.”
The Rogers Cup is, in fact, the thirdoldest tournament in tennis, behind Wimbledon and the US Open, with the first men’s champion crowned in Canada in 1881, followed by the first women’s champion in 1892. It’s not quite 150 years, but it’s close.
So, when it came time to redesign the trophy for the 2017 Rogers Cup presented by National Bank, Canada 150 provided the inspiration.
There have been several iterations of the trophy over the years, but this time Tennis Canada wanted to create something iconic — something distinctly Canadian, but recognizable by tennis fans anywhere in the world. As such, the new trophy design will feature a Canadian theme, as well as innovative Canadian materials, to reflect the long history of the Rogers Cup.
Yabu Pushelberg, an internationally-recognized design firm founded by Canadians Glenn Pushelberg and George Yabu, was chosen by Tennis Canada and its partner and silver sponsor of the Rogers Cup, Cambria, to create the new trophy. The firm has worked on recent projects such as Canada Olympic House at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Four Seasons New York Downtown. Cambria provided the quartz materials to be used in the trophy design, as well as a state-of-the-art fabrication facility.
The designers, who were given free rein in terms of design with Tennis Canada giving the final approval, jumped at the opportunity. “How many times do you get a chance to design a trophy?” Yabu says. “Our industrial design team thought it was a really fun challenge.”
Yabu, who was born and raised in Toronto, points to the Stanley Cup — which has not been seen in this city since Canada celebrated its centennial — as an iconic trophy, synonymous with hockey. But it’s not particularly stylish, Yabu feels.
“That’s not a really pretty trophy, and over decades they kept adding to it as hockey kept going,” Yabu says. “We can do something better than that.”
The trophy design — which was unveiled in Toronto at the draw ceremony Friday evening — will feature a sculpted metal maple leaf, atop a base of veined white Cambria quartz. From the top, it will look like a maple leaf that’s fallen to the ground. From the front, it will look like an Olympic torch, with flames melding into the maple leaf, sliced at an angle. The torch will be tapered so it looks like the maple leaf is projecting outwards toward the sky.
“The new trophies were created for both the men’s and women’s singles and doubles champions, as well as the runners-up in each category; they will be hoisted by the winners on Aug. 13.
The new design will, perhaps, serve double duty. “It becomes iconic for Canada and it becomes an iconic piece of Canadian design,” Yabu says.
“This is a trophy that was born in Canada — it can’t be mistaken for anywhere else.”