Canadians Peter Polansky and Brayden Schnur surprised their much higher-ranked opponents in the qualifying round for the National Bank Toronto Open on Saturday.
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Polansky, the 246th racket in the ATP standings, defeated fourth-seeded Dominik Koepfer of Germany in qualifying in two sets of 6-3 and 6-4. The 33-year-old tennis player hit seven aces against just one for his rival.
His compatriot Brayden Schnur (250th) did not leave much of a chance for his opponent, Marcos Giron, ranked second in the preliminary round. He defeated the American with sets of 6-2, 6-3, breaking his opponent five times.
Steven Diez and Liam Draxl failed to advance to the next round.
Women in poor shape
On the women’s side, in Montreal, the representatives of the maple leaf did not continue their journey to the main draw as Polansky and Schnur were able to do.
Montrealer Françoise Abanda, who was returning to the field after battling COVID-19 last winter, lowered the flag to the sixth headliner, France’s Caroline Garcia, by virtue of two lost innings of 7- 6 and 6-4.
Two other Quebeckers in the running, Raphaëlle Lacasse, of Pierrefonds, and Mélodie Collard, of Gatineau, also saw their participation in the National Bank Open ended in singles.
Canadians Kayla Cross, Mia Kupres, Layne Sleeth and Katherine Sebov also bit the dust in the qualifying round.
Lorenzo Musetti forced to quit
Italian tennis player Lorenzo Musetti has had his name withdrawn from competition for the Toronto National Bank Open qualifying rounds due to breaches of COVID-19 regulations.
Musetti, 19, has left the bubble associated with the tournament and, according to the rules issued by the Public Health of Canada, is not allowed to re-enter it. The 60th player in the ATP standings was therefore forced to forfeit and will be replaced the Australian Max Purcell (41st).
