Vancouver Sun

Tennis returns in style at Hollyburn tournament

- STEVE EWEN Sewen@postmedia.com Twitter.com/SteveEwen

Tournament director Rik de Voest was talking Monday about how pleased he was with how the resurrecte­d Odlum Brown VanOpen tennis tournament went at Hollyburn Country Club.

Imagine if Denis Shapovalov had played? Shapovalov, the new media tennis darling in this country, had been slated to take part in the event but withdrew after the main draw had been released on Aug. 13, citing fatigue following his run to the semifinals at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. That included a ballyhooed upset of Rafael Nadal along the way.

Shapovalov, 18, did send a video message about how disappoint­ed he was about skipping the tournament and it was played on the big screens at Hollyburn initially and then later on social media.

“Obviously we were hoping he would still come, but, having been a player, I knew it was going to be a challenge for him the night he beat Nadal,” said de Voest, 37, a South African whose 16-year pro career included various trips to the VanOpen, highlighte­d by winning the 2006 men’s singles crown.

“The change in his life in just five days was really something. We were really, really happy that he put together that video. It was a nice touch.”

The tournament, founded in 2002, had been cancelled in 2016, in large part because longtime chairman Floyd Hill and director Ryan Clark both stepped down.

It was brought back this year, with de Voest and Carlota Lee taking over the main organizer roles. Lee, who had been the housing co-ordinator previously, has since been tagged as the event’s chairwoman under the new setup.

“Carlota having 10 years experience, and us having good relationsh­ips with Floyd and Ryan, helped make things go as smooth as possible,” said de Voest, who married a North Vancouver woman he met at one of his VanOpen trips and now works in real estate.

“From my side, it was a little more work than I had originally anticipate­d, but we got great feedback from the members at Hollyburn, great feedback from people who had previously worked at the tournament. They said it was a great event and it was great to have it back.”

German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe won the men’s title on Sunday, beating Aussie Jordan Thompson 6-0, 6-1 in a mere 54 minutes. Belgium’s Maryna Zanevska outlasted Danka Kovinic of Montenegro 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 for the women’s crown and Great Britain’s Neal Skupski and American James Cerrentani took the men’s doubles title by defeating Treat Huey of the Philippine­s and Swede Robert Lindstedt 7-6 (6), 6-2.

On Saturday, the team of Aussie Jessica Moore and Jocelyn Rae of Great Britain took the women’s doubles, beating American Desirae Krawczyck and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico 6-1, 7-5.

 ??  ?? Cedrik-Marcel Stebe
Cedrik-Marcel Stebe

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