GRANBY, July 29, 2018

Now that all is said and done, Peter Polansky from Thornhill will be the lone Canadian to play in the final of the Granby National Bank Challenger. Held from July 23 to 29 at the Saint-Luc tennis courts in Granby, the mixed draw tournament features a men’s ATP Challenger ($100 000) and a women’s ITF Challenger ($60 000).

On Saturday, Polansky faced countryman Frank Dancevic from Niagara Falls for the fourth time in their careers. Polansky posted his second win of their head-to-head in two sets 7-6(6), 6-4. The encounter lasted one hour and 41 minutes. His first victory over the 33-year-old veteran came in the first round in Granby last year. The third seed will now try to succeed where he failed in 2017, when he fell in the final.

His opponent will be Ugo Humbert of France, who defeated No. 6 seed Norbert Gombos of Slovakia 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to claim his final berth. The 20-year-old from Metz fired 10 aces, winning 81 per cent of his first service points to advance after exactly two hours of play.

Canadian teenagers miss women’s singles final

In the women’s event, Bianca Andreescu from Canada was forced to withdraw before playing the first point. Suffering from back pain for several days, she was unable to recover from her hard-fought match against Ellen Perez of Australia on Friday night. The 18-year-old will take a few days off to rest before heading to Rogers Cup presented by National Bank. She also withdrew from the Citi Open in Washington, to which she was given a wildcard into the main draw.

Katherine Sebov, another Canadian teenager, went down in two quick sets 6-2, 6-0 to first-seed Arina Rodionova of Australia. Sebov was seeking to defend the hard-earned points she gained in the final in Granby last year. In the battle for the title, Rodionova will be up against her close friend Julia Glushko from Israel.