TORONTO, November 6, 2016
The final has been set for the $50,000 Tevlin Women’s Challenger, as US-American Catherine “CiCi” Bellis will take on Jesika Maleckova of Czech Republic in Sunday’s final at Aviva Centre in Toronto.
No. 4 seed Maleckova was the first to secure her spot in the championship match, after defeating Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-2, 6-3 in Saturday’s first semifinal match.
“When I played the first round I was a bit tired and jet-lagged after coming from the Czech Republic,” Maleckova said. “I’ve tried to improve every match since and I think today was a very good match for me.”
Maleckova’s path to the final saw the 22-year old defeat Great Britain’s Katie Swan, Fanni Stollar of Hunagry, and US-American Nicole Frenkel, before meeting Mertens in the final four. Maleckova and Mertens sparred for an hour and nine minutes, before the 22-year old Czech completed the win to advance to her third final on the ITF Pro Circuit this season.
However, standing between Maleckova and the title is No. 1 seed Bellis. Bellis defeated fellow US-American Raveena Kingsley 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 in Saturday’s other semifinal. 17-year old Bellis needed just an hour and twenty-eight minutes to move on to her fourth ITF final of the year.
A win on Sunday would see Bellis capture back-to-back titles at $50,000 ITF events. In October, she defeated Canadian Bianca Andreescu in the National Bank Saguenay Challenger. Bellis also reached the quarter-finals of Quebec City’s WTA event in September, following her run to the third round of the US Open in September.
Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa) captured her fifth doubles title at the Tevlin Challenger with partner Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands, with their 6-4, 6-3 victory over the all-US-American duo of Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey. The top-seeded team triumphed over the No. 2 seeds early Saturday afternoon in in Toronto.
“It was some of the more, ‘proper doubles tennis’ I would say. But well done to Caitlin [Weinhold] and Ashley [Whoriskey] this week,” Dabrowski said before thanking tournament sponsors, Mike and Nicole Tevlin. “Without them we wouldn’t be standing here right now. They’ve sponsored this tournament for many, many years and it’s always so well run.”
Dabrowski’s latest trophy at the 12th edition of the Tevlin Challenger comes in addition to her Tevlin doubles victories in 2007 and through 2010-2012, and her singles championship win in 2014. The Ottawa native now holds 12 doubles titles on the ITF Pro Circuit, and she also captured her third WTA doubles title this season, at the Mallorca Open in June.
