GATINEAU, July 19, 2019

Enzo Couacaud upset second seed Soonwoo Kwon of Korea in the third round of the Challenger Banque National de Gatineau. The 24-year-old Frenchman broke his opponent’s serve three times and won 55 per cent of the total points played to secure a 7-5, 7-5 victory on Thursday.

No. 15 seed Couacaud, who lifted his maiden trophy on the ATP Challenger Tour last year in Cassis, will next face No. 11 seeded Aussie Marc Polmans. Darian King of Barbados set a quarterfinal clash with Maxime Janvier of France.

Canadians lose in third round

Tournament wild card, Alexis Galarneau of Canada, made a name for himself earlier in the week by notably eliminating the top seed Antoine Hoang of France in a tight three-set battle. On Thursday, he was up against another seeded player, No. 16 Duckhee Lee of South Korea. Despite getting an early break, Galarneau found himself down a set. In a closely disputed second set, Galarneau saved three match points but was unable to save a fourth, losing 6-3, 7-5 in one hour and 41 minutes. Lee will next play No. 10 seed Jason Kubler of Australia.

For his part, Canadian third seed, Peter Polansky from Thornhill was in action against Joao Menezes of Brazil. After playing a marathon match the previous day, the 31-year-old was unable to reproduce the accomplishment, as he fell short of a quarterfinal spot by a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The encounter lasted just under two hours of play. Menezes will next play sixth seed Norbert Gombos of Slovakia.