Tennis Canada – Polansky, Peliwo and Dancevic fall in the second round
 
Winnipeg, July 12, 2018 – Five Canadian players were in second round action on Thursday at the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger, two of which managed to secure a spot in the quarter-finals. The tournament features a mixed draw, with the men competing in the $75,000 Challenger event and the women in the $25,000 ITF Challenger event. The tournament will be played at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club from July 7-15, 2018.  

It was a tough day for Canadian players on Thursday, as many of the top seeds fell in their second round matches. The tournament’s first seed Peter Polansky (Thornhill, ON) dropped a three set match against Austrian Lucas Miedler (6-7(4), 7-5, 1-6) while the seventh seed Filip Peliwo (Vancouver, BC) was unable to overcome Kaichi Uchida of Japan, losing by a score of 7-6(3), 1-6, 2-6. After scoring a win over compatriot Brayden Schnur (Pickering, ON) in the first round, Frank Dancevic (Niagara Falls, ON) fell to qualifier Mikael Torpegaard of Denmark 6-3, 3-6, 4-6. Despite tallying nine aces, the Canadian Davis Cup captain also committed nine double faults.

In the biggest upset of the day, Alexis Galarneau (Laval, QC) took down the tournament’s third seed Michael Mmoh of the United States by a score of 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-1. Currently ranked a career high no. 119, Mmoh has had a stellar start to the year, as he reached the quarter-finals at the ATP 250 event in Brisbane and qualified for the main draw and reached the second round at the Miami Open. This win is one of the biggest of Galarneau’s young career. A member of the North Carolina State Wolfpack, the Quebec native recently completed his sophomore season playing on the NCAA Circuit. Since the start of the year, he has won one doubles title at the Calgary Futures partnering compatriot Benjamin Sigouin and reached the singles final at the Kelowna Futures just a few weeks ago.

On the women’s side, Rebecca Marino (Vancouver, BC) was the only Canadian left in the main draw on Thursday. She was taking American qualifier Jada Robinson. After jumping out to an early lead, Marino experienced difficulties closing out the first set. She took the opener in a close tiebreak and went on to take the match in straight sets by a score of 7-6(6), 6-2. Despite tallying 11 aces, the Canadian also committed six double faults. Marino is currently in the midst of a successful comeback, which saw her capture three ITF Pro Circuit titles earlier this year. 

A number of Canadian players lost early on in the tournament, with Bianca Andreescu (Mississauga, ON), Katherine Sebov (Toronto, ON) and Brayden Schnur notably falling in their first round matches on Wednesday.

The Winnipeg National Bank Challenger is the first of three mixed draw Challenger tournaments in Canada held during the month of July. The tournament will be followed by events in Gatineau and Granby.

Information :
Victoria Jaklin – Tennis Canada
vjaklin@tenniscanada.com
514-929-6805