Winnipeg, Man. – The stage was set on Centre Court where Gonzalo Escobar (ECU) and Fritz Wolmarans (RSA) battled it out for the top spot at the Winnipeg National Bank Futures. After being tied in the first set 6-6, Escobar pulled through the tiebreak winning 7-4. Escobar pushed on with that momentum, upsetting Wolmarans 6-0 in the second set, earning him the championship win.
Gonzalo Escobar had a tough road to the championship match, with three of the four matches requiring three sets to decide a winner, and two matches having a tiebreak to decide a set. His winning score is similar to his quarter-final match against Dennis Nevolo, where he won 7-6(4), 6-1.
“This year has been not very good to me… but I’ve been able to keep it up, keep it tight, keep trying, working… finally in August I got something good… this has been the best week in the whole year.” Due to tough economic times in Ecuador, Escobar has had to travel a lot more in order to play competitions as the local competitions are being cancelled. With his girlfriend residing in Montreal, North America became a natural choice for this rising player.
Escobar praised the tournament committee for their organization of the tournament. Building just over the last few years, it is this event that brings out the local fans and exposes them to high caliber matches. “The crowd today was fantastic… it was our biggest crowd in the history of this tournament”, said Tournament Chair Mark Arndt.
Escobar continues onto Calgary for his next competition which begins this upcoming week.
