Luciano Darderi, Marcos Giron among ATP stars to trade hockey stick racquet in Montreal | ATP Tour

Montreal

Darderi, Giron among ATP stars to trade hockey stick racquet in Montreal

Canadians Galarneau, Pospisil also joined the fun

August 04, 2024

ATP Tour stars traded racquets for sticks Saturday ahead of the National Bank Open Presented by Rogers in Canada’s annual ATP Masters 1000 hockey tournament.

Nuno Borges, Luciano Darderi, Alexis Galarneau, Marcos Giron, Miomir Kecmanovic and Vasek Pospisil played a team of PWHL stars and the ball hockey champion in an exciting game. The hockey stars finally won the nail-biting competition.

“It’s amazing. It was very humbling. It’s fun to play though,” Giron said. “We always play tennis, but I think all of us tennis players grow up playing other sports and it’s always nice to express it in something else. But the hockey stick doesn’t feel like an extension of the arm like a racquet does.” of tennis.”

Marcos Giron plays ball hockey on Saturday in Montreal.”>
^{Marcos Giron shoots at the net during Saturday’s game.}
Borges had never played hockey before, but he had a great time trying to learn the game.

“The thing is that we struggled, at least I wanted to continue playing to improve because I couldn’t hit the ball. It was really difficult,” said Borges. “You’d think we’d have less chance of just being able to handle the racquet as an extension, but the bat is completely different. It was fun trying out a new game with different tools, gloves. It’s cool to check things out. I was very happy.”

Alexis Galarneau plays ball hockey Saturday in Montreal.”>
^{Alexis Galarneau enjoys competing in a ball hockey game.}
The tennis players enjoyed a long laugh. Darderi, who is No. 34 in the PIF ATP Rankings, had never played. However, at the end of the game, he was still comfortable and he was able to help the highlight-reel by passing the ball over the net to his teammate, and placed it beside the goalkeeper.

With the tennis racquets back in hand, the draw for the tournament’s main draws will begin on Tuesday.