Winnipeg, Man. – After a cold and rainy start to the tournament, the sun and fans were out in full force absorbing all the action taking place at the National Bank Challenger and National Bank Futures on Monday. Monday saw the final matches in the Men’s Singles Qualifying Draw, as well as the first matches in the Men’s Doubles, Women’s Singles, and Women’s doubles main draw.
Men’s Singles Qualifying action kicked off the morning at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club with eight matches in the morning. One Canadian and one Australian were among the pack of six American players who earned their spots in the Men’s Singles main draw.
In Men’s Doubles action, four teams secured their spot in the main draw quarter finals. The battle of Manitoba took place on Centre Court with Cole Lecap/Sean Lecap being victorious over fellow locals Connor Davies/Ty Dilello 6-0, 7-6(1). Adam El Mihdawy/James Wasserman earned their quarter-final spot with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Manitoba’s Stephan Dubienski/Shane Nicholls. Gonzalo Escobar (ECU)/Sora Fukuda (JPN) and Dimitar Kutrovsky (BUL)/Dennis Nevolo (USA) were also victorious in their matches.
The first round of the National Bank Challenger Women’s Singles took off on Monday, with eight women moving onto the second round. The much anticipated return of Aleksandra Wozniak, after returning from a shoulder surgery, saw her defeat fellow Canadian Rosie Johanson in three sets 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Her next match will be against Ingrid Neel (USA), who defeated the sixth-seeded Francoise Abanda (CAN) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
Two matches were played in the Women’s Doubles main draw with both requiring a third set tiebreak to decide the winner. Americans Kristina Smith/Jessica Wacnik faced off against Canadians Petra Januskova/Maria Patrascu, and after a close exchange of sets, Smith/Wacnik won in a third set tiebreak with a final score of 4-6, 7-5, [11-9]. In the second match, Melissa Kopinski (USA) paired up with Australian Olivia Tjandramulia and were victorious against the American pairing of Alexandra Riley and Alexandra Stevenson 3-6, 6-3, [10-4].
The action continues today at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club with all four divisions in play, including the first round of the Men’s Singles main draw.
