Opening night in Montreal got off to a fantastic start as the National Bank Open celebrated Félix Auger-Aliassime’s bronze medal in mixed doubles at the Paris Olympics.
On hand was doubles legend Daniel Nestor, who won Canada's first Olympic tennis medal 24 years ago, was on hand in Montreal on Tuesday night to congratulate Félix Auger-Aliassime for winning bronze in Paris. A well-deserved tribute!
Quite a few stars from the Quebec sports and entertainment were also in attendance to kick off main draw action at IGA including Virginie Coossa, Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse, Chantal Machabée, the Dufour-Lapointe sisters, Pierre-Luc Funk, Marc-André Grondin, Jean-Thomas Jobin, Claude Meunier, Alex Burrows, David Savard, Charles-Antoine Sinotte and Félix-Antoine Tremblay.
Too tall an order for our Canadians
Canadian Gabriel Diallo battled the very experienced Karen Khachanov, but his admirable efforts weren’t enough.
He was defeated in two identical sets (6-4, 6-4) after 88 minutes of play, though not without demonstrating some excellent skill.
Pospisil and Shapovalov lose in doubles
Doubles is its own sport, and excellence in singles isn’t enough to master it. Despite their best efforts and combined skills at the net, the all-Canadian team of Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov couldn’t get past the opening round at IGA Stadium in Montréal.
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It must be said that they were up against tough opponents. Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori (5) capitalized on their experience to seal a 6-4, 6-3 win.
As for Félix Auger-Aliassime and Alexis Galarneau (who was still recovering from his heartbreaking loss in singles), they were annihilated by Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson (12) of Australia, falling 6-0, 6-1 on Rogers Court.
Galarneau nearly qualifies
On Tuesday morning, Alexis Galarneau of Laval came very, very close to being the only Canadian qualifier in the main draw of the National Bank Open presented by Rogers at IGA Stadium in Montréal.
Galarneau and Rinky Hijikata of Australia were one set apiece when a Monday downpour put their match on hold. As soon as the balls got rolling again, the 25-year-old Quebecer had a strong restart and was able to count on the weapons that had secured him the opening set.
At 4-3 in his favour, he broke his opponent and was on serve for the match. Unhappily, nerves creeped in and Galarneau let Hijikata break back and take control.
The match was ultimately decided by tiebreaker. Galarneau snatched a 2-0 lead with a mini break but then the tides turned in the Australian’s favour. Hijikata closed things out 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
Feature photo: Pascal Ratthé
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