VANCOUVER, August 14, 2019 (Press Release)
With a hometown crowd behind him, Vernon-born, Vancouver-raised Vasek Pospisil moved into the second round at the Odlum Brown VanOpen with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win over Colin Sinclair, who was entered the tournament with an ITF-reserved spot.
Despite being pushed to a third set against a player 219 spots behind him in the ATP rankings, Pospisil felt pretty good. “I did, I thought the conditions were pretty tricky, there were heavy, slow balls, but honestly, Colin played well. In the second set there, I didn’t do too much wrong, I could have been a bit more dialed into the moment there, but he played a great set and then I did well to recover in the third. I was just happy to get through, it was an important win.”
After falling in the second set, the 29-year-old former World No. 25 made some adjustments in his game to grind out the win. “In the third set, I played a little more aggressive. I was just more aware of the short balls and the opportunities throughout the points, and it made a difference. I think I just applied pressure at the right time, then he gave me a few mistakes when I needed them and that was the difference there in the third set.”
Pospisil will now face 2017 ATP NextGen champion Hyeon Chung of Korea in Wednesday’s evening feature match-up on Centre Court. It’s the first ever match between the two.
Undefeated in his comeback, @HyeonChung has a special message for his fans ahead of his @vanopentennis debut. 😁 pic.twitter.com/tnZf2fXmOA
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) August 13, 2019
Fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard didn’t fare as well as Pospisil, as she was knocked out of the tournament with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 loss to Hungary’s Timea Babos. 16-year-old Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal won her debut match at the Odlum Brown VanOpen, upsetting 7th-seeded American Varvara Lepchenko 6-3, 7-6(1).
Other Canadians in action in the first round of men’s singles on Tuesday include North Vancouver’s Filip Peliwo, who lost to Greek qualifier Michail Pervolarakis and Peter Polansky of Toronto, who was upset by qualifier Liam Broady of Great Britain.
On the women’s side in first round singles action, Canadian wild card Carson Branstine was dropped 6-4, 6-3 by 2018 Odlum Brown VanOpen finalist and No. 6 seed Heather Watson of Great Britain. Fellow wild card Layne Sleeth had to retire due to injury in her match against Paraguay’s Veronica Cepede Royg.
The matches continue Wednesday, August 14 at 10 am, featuring matches from Men’s Singles Second Round, Women’s Singles First Round, and Men’s and Women’s Doubles First Round.
Tuesday, August 13 – RESULTS
Men’s Singles Main Draw – First Round
Duckhee Lee, Korea, def. Maverick Banes, Australia, 6-1, 6-4,
(Q) Michail Pervolarakis, Greece, def. Filip Peliwo, Canada, 7-5, 6-4,
(Q) Liam Broady, Great Britain, def. Peter Polansky, Canada, 7-6(6), 6-3,
Vasek Pospisil, Canada, def. (ITF) Colin Sinclair, Northern Mariana Islands, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
Men’s Singles Main Draw – Second Round
Jason Jung (10), Taiwan, def. Ruben Bemelmans, Belgium, 6-4, 6-2,
Thiago Monteiro (5), Brazil, def. (ITF) Tim Van Rijthoven, Netherlands, 6-4, 6-4,
Evgeny Donskoy (7), Russia, def. Emilio Gomez, Ecuador, 6-3, 6-4,
Go Soeda, Japan, def. (WC) Ernests Gulbis (9), Latvia, 6-3, 6-2.
Men’s Doubles Main Draw – First Round
Luke Bambridge, Great Britain, and Ben McLachlan, Japan (1), def. Andre Goransson, Sweden, and Hunter Reese, United States, 7-6(4), 6-3,
Jamie Cerretani, United States, and Jonathan Erlich, Israel (4), def. (ITF) Alejandro Gomez, Colombia, and Junior A. Ore, United States, 6-3, 6-4,
(ITF) Jordi Arconada, United States, and Maxime Cressy, United States, vs. (PR) Treat Huey, Phillipines, and Adil Shamasdin, Canada, 6-3, 7-6(9),
Roberto Maytin, Venezuela, and Jackson Withrow, United States, def. Alex Lawson, United States, and Mischa Zverev, Germany, 2-6, 7-6(2), 12-10.
Robert Lindstedt, Sweden, and Jonny O’Mara, United States (2), def. (WC) Taha Baadi, Canada, and Liam Draxl, Canada, 6-0, 6-4,
(WC) Alexis Galarneau, Canada, and Benajmin Sigouin, Canada, def. Ricardas Berankis, Lithuania, and Hans Hach Verdugo, Mexico, 6-4, 2-6, 10-7.
Women’s Singles Main Draw – First Round
Timea Babos, Hungary, def. Eugenie Bouchard (5), Canada, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1,
(WC) Leylah Annie Fernandez, Canada def. Varvara Lepchenko (7), United States, 6-3, 7-6(1),
Veronica Cepede Royg, Paraguay, def. (WC) Layne Sleeth, Canada, 4-2, Ret.
Heather Watson (6), Great Britain, def. (WC) Carson Branstine, Canada, 6-4, 6-3,
Kurumi Nara, Japan, def. Magdalena Rybarikova, Slovakia, 6-3, 6-3,
Nao Hibino, Japan, def. Liudmila Samsonova, Russia, 7-5, 6-1,
Arina Rodionova, Australia, def. Ysaline Bonaventure (4), Belgium, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1,
Sara Sorribes Tormo (3), Spain, def. Kaylah Mcphee, Australia, 6-1, 6-2.
Women’s Doubles Main Draw – First Round
Sharon Fichman, Canada, and Storm Sanders, Australia, def. Misaki Doi, Japan, and Kurumi Nara, Japan, 6-2, 6-4,
Greet Minnen, Belgium, and Alison Van Uytvanck, Belgium (4), def. (WC) Carson Branstine, Canada, and Leylah Annie Fernandez, Canada, 3-6, 6-1, 10-8,
Nicole Gibbs, United States and Asia Muhammad, United States, def. Maegan Manasse, United States, and Ena Shibahara, Japan, 7-6(4), 7-5,
Naomi Broady, Great Britain, and Erin Routliffe, New Zealand, def. Jovana Jaksic, Serbia, and Hiroko Kuwata, Japan, 6-0, 6-1,
Eri Hozumi, Japan, and Makoto Ninomiya, Japan (1), vs. (Alt) Maddison Inglis, Australia, and Kaylah Mcphee, Australia, 6-1, 6-4.
