GRANBY, August 4, 2016

A pair of Canadians advanced to the quarterfinals of the $150,000 Granby National Bank Challenger on Wednesday.

Seventeen-year-old Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, ON) continued his strong play of late with a comfortable 6-4, 6-1 victory over world no. 193 Grégoire Barrere of France to book his spot in the final eight where he will face US-American Sekou Bangoura on Friday. Bangoura benefited from the retirement of Andrey Golubev leading 5-7 due to illness.

Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime (Montreal, QC) also advanced to the second round in doubles while another Canadian pair, Philip Bester (Vancouver, BC) and Peter Polansky (Thornhill, ON), reached the semi-finals.

Wednesday’s evening session featured an all-Canadian encounter between Françoise Abanda (Montreal, QC) and Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (Toronto, ON). Abanda came out on top 7-5, 7-6(5) in a tightly contested match. In the quarterfinals, she will face Olga Govortsova of Belarus who defeated Canadian Carol Zhao in second round action.

On Thursday, Bester, Polansky, and Aleksandra Wozniak (Blainville, QC) will attempt to join their compatriots in the singles quarter-finals as second round play concludes in Granby.