–

Monastir, Tunisia – one of those infamous sites around the ITF circuit where you can basically play a tournament every week of the year in the same venue – was very, very good to the Canadian players last week.

Katherine Sebov, who has had a challenging 2025 season, dropped down to that $30,000 level and took the singles title.

And Ariana Arseneault, who has had good success in doubles on the ITF circuit in 2025, added another trophy to her case as she teamed up with Alicia Dudeney of Great Britain to take the doubles title.

Canucks This Week – Week ending Dec. 7, 2025 (final results)

Back in the top 250 for Sebov

The title means Sebov will gain 20 spots in the rankings, and will be back inside the top 250 for the first time since July, 2024.

She began the 2025 season ranked No. 367, so that’s a good effort even though gains are so hard to make at the ITF level.

The 26-year-old won two titles this season; the first came on the Har-Tru in Naples, Fla. in theGarci very first week last January. She defeated, among others, Can-American Carson Branstine in the first round, and Elizabeth Mandlik (who won the USTA’s Australian Open wild card playoff and will be in Melbourne) in the semifinals.

Sebov and her mother/coach Oksana Petrovska went from Florida, to Texas, to California, to the Dominican Republic, to Charleston, back to Florida, to the Carolinas – both North and South – to Newport, Granby and Montreal, Pennsylvania, Saskatoon, Portugal for three weeks, California again, Oklahoma, Georgia, Texas, Toronto, back to Texas and Slovakia before wrapping up in Tunisia.

She played 28 tournaments in all; 69 singles matches (43-26) and 21 doubles matches for a total of 90. With total prize money that edged just over $50,000 on the season with the $3,935 winners’ cheque in Monastir.

You truly have to be passionate about it.

That ranking might not be enough to allow her to squeeze into the Australian Open qualifying, though. Which is too bad, because she’s had great moments there – especially when she won three matches and qualified for the main draw back in 2023.

Years ago, you could be outside the top 250 and get into Melbourne; the cutoff was a lot lower than the other majors simply because of the cost of the trip, and the fact that there wasn’t much else to play in that part of the world for the women.

That’s changed, though; increases in prize money in qualifying is probably the biggest factor. Last year the rankings cutoff for the qualifying sat at No. 225, with 10 spots on that 128-player list given to players with protected rankings.

Arseneault back in the top 200

For Arseneault, 23, and a newbie in the pros after a college career at Auburn, it’s a fourth ITF doubles title this season – all on hard court.

She won in Manchester with the American Anna Rogers, then a W75 in Saguenay and a W50 in Chihuahua, Mexico with countrywoman Raphaelle Lacasse.

Lacasse also won four ITF titles in 2024, three of them at the W35 level plus the bigger W75 in Granby.

Her singles ranking sits just outside the top 500. But her doubles ranking will move back inside the top 200 next week.

Arseneault was as high as No. 111 back in July. But she had 290 points to defend from the Granby title and a surprise quarterfinal effort at the National Bank Open a year ago. She defended just 16 of those points, not playing the Montreal tournament, and dropped back down.

She is the No. 5 seed in the singles at a smaller ($15,000) ITF at the same venue this week, but isn’t playing doubles.

About Post Author