For his big debut in the main draw of an ATP tournament, Laval resident Alexis Galarneau caused a sensation. He stood up to Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, 19th player in the world, before losing the flag 6-4, 7-5 in the first round of the National Bank Open on Tuesday, on a cool and cloudy afternoon at the IGA Stadium in Montreal.
Galarneau, 23, showed a lot of guts against a very experienced player, even allowing himself to take a 5-2 lead in the second set.
Whoever took advantage of a pass from the organizers to find themselves in the big leagues has nothing to be ashamed of their performance, far from it. He has shown great qualities that should allow him to continue his progress. He also received loud applause from the spectators when he left center court.
The day was really not favorable to the Canadian players. Ontario’s Denis Shapovalov and British Columbia’s Vasek Pospisil were also eliminated.
All hopes in the Canadian camp now rest on the shoulders of sixth-seeded Félix Auger-Aliassime, who has a date with the winner of the first-round showdown between Frenchman Benoit Paire and Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka.
Shapovalov and the Australian Alex de Minaur completed their match, which was interrupted the day before by rain, at the end of the afternoon. The two players were tied at 3-3 in the second set tiebreaker and de Minaur took just one minute 52 seconds to claim the victory, 7-5, 7-6 (4).
Pospisil lost to American Tommy Paul, 6-4, 6-4.
In the next round, Paul will have a big challenge to face as he has an appointment with the young rising star of men’s tennis, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
Now relegated to 147th in the world, Pospisil gave up the break from the start in each of the two sets and he was never able to raise the bar.
Short of form, the 32-year-old veteran was sidelined for almost three months this spring with an elbow injury. And since returning to the game, he’s been content to play on the Challenger circuit. In four tournaments, he was limited to two wins. He also lost in his first qualifying match at Wimbledon.
Even if he claims to be completely recovered from his elbow problem, he admits that he lacked consistency.
“I think I hit the ball well, but I haven’t yet found the rhythm during the matches, analyzed Pospisil at a press conference. Even before the tournament, I had problems physically, maybe that’s the reason.
“Before this week, I didn’t feel confident, I wasn’t in the right rhythm. I knew it was going to be difficult this week because I haven’t been well on the training ground for the past few days.
“Even on the court, it was difficult to know if I should stay calm, interact with the crowd to take the momentum. When you’re in those moments of doubt, it’s even more complicated, you think too much. »
He says he trains very hard on a daily basis, but he has to be patient, confident that he will find his rhythm.
All is not over for him this week in Montreal since he is also registered in doubles with the Italian Jannik Sinner. Then he will compete in the Vancouver Challenger and try to qualify for the United States Open before representing Canada at the Davis Cup in Spain.
Pospisil’s best run in Montreal dates back to 2013 when he took part in the semi-finals, losing to his compatriot Milos Raonic. Since then, he has reached the first round of the tournament on Canadian soil only twice (2015, 2016).
The start of the day’s program was delayed by 90 minutes due to the weather. The schedule was full after the delays and postponements of the previous day with 21 singles matches scheduled on the various courts.
The tournament produced its first upset as Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta knocked out 11th-seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini 6-3, 6-2. In another match, Marin Cilic defeated fellow Croatian Borna Coric 6-4, 7-5.
The postponed match between Britain’s Andy Murray and American Taylor Fritz will open the evening session on center court.
Remember that all the seeds, exempted from the first round, must enter the scene on Wednesday.