Good day for Polansky and Dancevic in Granby
GRANBY Veterans Peter Polansky and Frank Dancevic led a Canadian charge into the quarter-finals of the National Bank $100,000 ATP men’s Challenger tennis tournament Thursday.
Thirty-year-old Polansky was a 6-4, 6-3 winner over China’s Zhe Li, while 33-year-old Dancevic, a Niagara Falls native who lives in La Prairie, defeated Austrian Lucas Miedler 6-4, 6-4.
“The courts are a little faster than the ones I’ve been playing on lately, but I’ve been making the adjustment,” said Polansky, the No. 3 seed from Toronto.
With the win, Polansky is at No. 140 in the ATP Tour rankings, but he said he’s not focused on reaching the top 100 — a goal that has proved elusive.
“I’m having a better-than-average season and I’ve maintained my ranking,” said Polansky. “It would be nice to get into the top 100 and get into more ATP events without qualifying, but the important thing is to feel good about the way I’m playing.”
Polansky’s quarter-final opponent will be Italian Stefano Napolitano.
Dancevic, who has won this event three times, used a strong serve — he had six aces — and punishing ground strokes to overpower Miedler. He won 79 per cent of the points on his first serve and a more impressive 82 per cent of the points on his second serve.
Next up for Dancevic will be American Alexander Sarkissian, who spoiled the hopes for an allCanadian quarter-final when he upset seventh-seeded Filip Peliwo of North Vancouver 6-4, 6-3.
Brayden Schnur of Pickering, Ont., claimed his spot in the final eight with a 6-3, 6-4 win over JC Aragone, an Argentine-born American.
Schnur lost in the first round of the two previous Canadian Challenger events in Winnipeg and Gatineau and described his appearance here as a reset.
“I had trouble making the switch to hardcourts after playing on the grass, but I’m feeling comfortable this week,” said the 23-year-old. “The courts here are a little fast and the fans here are always great.”
Schnur got a bit of a break because his next opponent will be Ugo Humbert, who upset top-seeded Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 6-4 in a match of French players. Herbert had a busy day, which began at 10 a.m. when he faced another French player, Vincent Millot. Their firstround match was halted by a thunderstorm Wednesday night, with the score tied 4-4 in the first set. Herbert won the match 7-6, 6-0.
There were more storms forecast for Thursday and organizers breathed a sigh of relief when they didn’t materialize. But they erred on the side of caution by moving the matches in the $60,000 ITF women’s challenger to an indoor club in Sherbrooke.
Two teenagers, third-seeded Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga and eighth-seeded Katherine Sebov of Toronto, joined Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino in the women’s quarter-finals. Seventeen-year-old Andreescu defeated 15-year-old Leylah Annie Fernandez of Laval 6-1, 6-4, while 19-year-old Sebov eliminated Australian Olivia Tjandramulia 6-1, 6-2.