VANCOUVER/STARNBERG, August 21, 2022
A pair of players from France face off against each other in the singles final of the Odlum Brown VanOpen as 27-year-old Arthur Rinderknech will take on 30-year-old countryman Constant Lestienne on Sunday.
World No. 64 Rinderknech knocked out crowd favourite and Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 29 minutes in Saturday’s semi-final.
“We all know how good Vasek is, especially here in Canada, so I’m happy to get the win. 6-4, 6-4 is a good score for me and I didn’t spend too much time on the court even though it was pretty physical because Vasek always makes it physical,” said Rinderknech, who is definitely familiar with his next opponent’s game.
“We know each other pretty well, he’s a great guy, a good friend, so I’m pretty happy to play against him,” Rinderknech continued. The two Frenchmen have played each other once before and it was a win for Rinderknech at the 2021 Challenger La Manche in Cherbourg, France.
World No. 94 Lestienne booked his spot in the Odlum Brown VanOpen championship match with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory in two hours and 23 minutes over another French player, 24-year-old Ugo Humbert, who’s ranked World No. 155. On top of the quality of tennis, the closeness between the two made it extra challenging for Lestienne.
“I know Ugo really well so it was really difficult to play against him, emotionally. I tried to focus on my game but sometimes during the match, I was thinking about my heart, so it was really hard,” explained Lestienne. “I (almost) don’t want to celebrate this win because I’m disappointed that I beat Ugo, but that’s the way it is and it came in the semifinals, so it’s good for both of us.”
McLachlan/Goransson earn doubles title
Playing together for the last two and half months, Ben McLachlan of Japan and Andre Goransson of Sweden are definitely used to each other, and it showed in the men’s doubles final, as they eked out a 6-7(4), 7-6(7), 11-9 win over Treat Huey of the Philippines and Australian John-Patrick Smith in a nailbiter that thrilled a packed Polygon Court.
“There were a lot of emotions in there, it was a crazy match, they played some good tennis,” said McLachlan, 30, as he and Goransson claimed their second ATP Challenger Tour doubles title of August. “It was hard to get a break out there, we went down a break in the second set, and then they served for it and we came up big, so we’re really proud of ourselves for that.”
“I feel like it could have gone either way, really,” added Goransson, 28. “They got the break at five-all, played some good points, and I think we played some good points at 5-6. They had some opportunities and we had some opportunities, it was really back and forth and we competed very well today.”
McLachlan and Goransson are now back-to-back winners on the ATP Challenger Tour after triumphing in the Chicago Men’s Challenger last week. It’s the sixth career ATP Challenger doubles title for McLachlan and the ninth for Goransson. The pair split $9,300 in prize money and collected 125 ATP Doubles Ranking points.
Your 2022 Odlum Brown #VanOpen men’s doubles champions are Ben McLachlan 🇯🇵 and Andre Goransson 🇸🇪!
Congratulations to men’s doubles finalists Treat Huey 🇵🇭 and JP Smith 🇦🇺 on their fantastic play!
📷: Bo Mon Kwan#vanopentennis #atpchallengertour #atpchallenger pic.twitter.com/Th8aGn33U6
— Odlum Brown VanOpen (@vanopentennis) August 21, 2022
