GRANBY, July 28, 2018
Four of the six Canadians who made it to the quarterfinal round of the Granby National Bank Challenger, held from July 23 to 29 at the Saint-Luc courts in Granby, have moved into the semis. Bianca Andreescu from Mississauga, Frank Dancevic from Niagara Falls, Peter Polansky of Thornhill and Katherine Sebov from Toronto, are now setting their sights on the finals of the mixed draw tournament in which the men compete in the ATP Challenger ($100 000) and the women go head-to-head in the ITF Challenger ($60 000).
Sebov was the first to qualify with a convincing win over Usue Maitane Arconada of the United States 6-0, 6-1. Currently ranked world no. 275, the Canadian will vie for a spot in the final in Granby for the second year in a row. She has been playing solid tennis since the start of the tournament, losing only 11 games in three matches. In the next round, she faces a tough opponent in top seed Arina Rodionova of Russia. The top seed fought hard to earn her second win in as many weeks over Rebecca Marino of Vancouver in three tight sets 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-5.
In the first match of the evening session, Bianca Andreescu had to dig deep in her quarterfinal against Ellen Perez of Australia 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. After losing the first set, she and Perez were sent to the locker room when the rain came down. After the break, Andreescu returned with new energy. Despite falling behind 5-3 in the final set and facing three match points, the 18-year-old was able to find her game and the win. The Canadian will be up against Julia Glushko of Israel in the next round.
Polansky, Dancevic delight home crowd
In the men’s event, Polansky continues to thrive on Canadian soil. After reaching the finals in Winnipeg, Gatineau and Granby in 2017, he could take advantage of his time in Québec to make his first appearance in a final this season. The 30-year-old defeated Stefano Napolitano of Italy in two sets 7-5, 7-6(2) in the one hour and 54 minutes. On Saturday, he will face fellow Canadian Frank Dancevic, who showed Alexander Sarkissian the door in a match that ended in the middle of the night. Dancevic is a familiar face in Granby, where he is playing for the 14th time. The 33-year-old took home the top honours in 2003, 2006 and 2013.
Ontarian Brayden Schnur fell to Ugo Humbert of France, who got the better of his countryman and No. 1 seed Pierre-Hugues Herbert in the earlier round. The 23-year-old Canadian was forced to retire trailing 7-5, 3-6, 1-4 due to right hip flexor.
Humbert will next take on Norbert Gombos. The No. 6 seed from Slovakia defeated Belgian qualifier Joris de Loore of Belgium 6-4, 6-4. The encounter lasted one hour and 17 minutes.
