POSPISIL LOOKING TO STAY HOT IN NATIONAL BANK CHALLENGER
Calgary event provides tennis ace a chance to boost world ranking from current No. 92
When it was announced that Vasek Pospisil was going to be coming to Calgary to play in the National Bank Challenger, he was ranked No. 146 in the world. Today, he’s ranked No. 92. That’s a jump of 54 places up the world rankings, and a pretty nice little indicator of the roll the Vernon, B.C., resident has been on throughout 2020.
If part of the appeal of playing in a Challenger Series event in Calgary initially had been the ATP points that were going to be up for grabs — and the jump in the rankings a tournament win would have provided — then maybe it’s worth wondering whether Pospisil’s motivation may have changed a bit after his red-hot month?
In short, the answer is no. Pospisil is aiming a lot higher than No. 92 in the world, and the goal this weekend is pretty simple: Win.
“That’s why I’m here,” Pospisil said Tuesday. “I would love to, it would do a tonne of good for me, even though I’ve had great results on the ATP Tour the last few months. If I could go deep this week it would really help my ranking.
“Any result would really help and I would love to win in Canada.”
Pospisil flew in from the South of France on Monday and admitted he was still feeling a little jet-lagged on Tuesday afternoon, although he expected to have worked through that by the time he takes the court Wednesday evening against Kacper Zuk at the Calgary Tennis Centre (6:30 p.m.).
Assuming he’s on his game, there’s no question Pospisil should be seen as the favourite to win the National Bank Challenger, especially given his recent results.
Pospisil is coming off a quarter-finals appearance at the
Open 13 Provence, in Marseille, France, last week. The week before that, he also made it to the Round of 16 at the AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and beat the world’s No. 5 ranked player, Daniil Medvedev, to get there.
Most impressively, Pospisil is also only a couple months removed from a brilliant run at the Open Sud de France that saw him knock off two players in the top 20 — and four in the top 60 — en route to the final, where he lost to Gael Monfils, ranked No. 9 in the world.
So that No. 92 ranking for Pospisil isn’t really an accurate reflection of his current standing in the international pecking order. After an injury kept him out most of last year, Pospisil just needs to play more tournaments and pick up more points to get back up to where he belongs.
“I’m playing some of my best tennis,” he said. “I feel like I’m playing as well (as I have) since back when I had my breakthrough in 2012-13 and ’15, when I was having some good periods there. I feel like my game is back to where it was at that stage, if not better.
“My body is feeling as good as it’s felt in years, pain-free, and I’ve been able to get some good training in and I have a new team around me.”
Of course, the ATP points up for grabs aren’t the only reason Pospisil wanted to play in Calgary. Since he’s from nearby Vernon, his parents will be in town to watch him play, and hopefully win.
I’m playing some of my best tennis. I feel like I’m playing as well (as I have) since back when I had my breakthrough in 2012-13 and ’15.