Skip to content

Bester back to defend at RCC Futures

$25,000 men's pro tennis tournament underway at Richmond Country Club
tennis
Richmond’s own Larry Zhao returns a serve during Monday’s qualiyfing action at the Richmond Country Club Futures international pro tennis tournament. The event continues all week with up-and-coming pros competing for a $25,000 prize purse in singles and doubles play.

He arrived at the Richmond Country Club this week as the defending champion and No. 2 seed yet Phillip Bester doesn’t intend on getting ahead of himself.
The North Vancouver native, who is now based out of Tampa, Florida, is back home for the third annual Richmond Country Club Futures — a six-day professional men’s tournament that is sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Tennis Canada.
This year’s prize purse has been increased to $25,000 and will embark Bester on a competitive schedule across the country. He will also compete in Futures events in Kelowna and Saskatoon, as well as the ATP Challenger in Winnipeg, before making way to Toronto for the Rogers Cup — July 23-July 31.
It’s a summer schedule Bester has been training two months for. His last taste of serious action was playing for Canada in a Davis Cup quarter-final loss to France in Guadeloupe back in March.
“I have no expectations this week,” laughed Bester. “But obviously with my skill level and training you expect to have success at this level. Sometimes, you just never know.
“I always look forward to playing at home in front of my family and friends. It’s a special week for me.”
Bester’s road to the title a year ago was by no means an easy one.
The No. 1 seed was a point away from being ousted in the second round, before making a miraculous rally from a 0-40, 1-5 deficit to pull out a three set (6-4, 3-6, 7-6) win against American Eric Johnson. It was one of four matches that went the distance, capped by another thriller in the final — a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 7 seed Brayden Schnur in an all-Canadian match-up.
The result was his second ITF pro circuit victory of the season and propelled him to further success — highlighted by a silver medal in mixed doubles a few weeks later at the Pan American Games in Toronto when he teamed up with Gabriela Dabrowski. It was Canada’s first medal in tennis at the Pan Am Games in 16 years.
“Being part of a multi-sport competition in your own country is an experience I will never forget,” recalled Bester. “I’m hoping to do it again with a couple of more Olympics coming up. It certainly gave me a lot of confidence going forward which led to my performance at Granby which was one of the highlights of my career.”
It was at the National Bank Granby Challenger where Bester earned his first career ATP Challenger Tour singles final before falling to France’s Vincent Millot. The result vaulted him to 225 in the world singles rankings.
Having re-launched his competitive career after a lengthy recovery process from hip surgery, Bester would love to use Richmond Futures as a launching pad for more summer success.
Opening round action of the Richmond CC Futures got underway on Tuesday and continues all week, leading up to Sunday’s singles final at noon.
Admission is free for the first couple rounds and $5 for weekend play, starting with the quarter-finals on Friday. For more information visit www.rccfutures.com