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Glenys Furness

Evans defeats lucky loser Corrie to claim Drummondville title

Glenys Furness
Tennis

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By Glenys Furness

  • Ed Corrie lost in qualifying but earned Lucky Loser spot
  • Dan Evans claimed the title
  • Bedene loses in Irving final

DRUMMONDVILLE, QUEBEC, CANADA – Ed Corrie & Dan Evans battled it out for the challenger title.

In Drummondville Corrie made the main draw as a lucky loser. After losing in qualifying, the Brit decided to stay around and his action was rewarded when the lucky loser spot opened up. The first round saw Corrie face the alternate Deiton Baughman. The Brit was making the most of the opportunity and was soon taking the first set 6-2. The second set was also in favour of tCorrie as he secured the second round place with a 6-4 win.

In the next round Corrie faced Mitchell Krueger, and the Brit continued his form as he took the first set 6-4 and was even better in the next as he sealed the win 6-2 to move into the quarter finals. This saw the Brit face Frank Dancevic from Canada. The Brit faced no break points at all in the first set, and broke the Canadian to seal the set 6-3. The second set was much the same, with Corrie again facing no break points. Dancevic managed to save four break points before Corrie secured the vital one needed to move into the semi final 6-2.

In the semi final Corrie faced Tim Van Rijthoven, the Brit kept up his form from the previous rounds and took out the qualifier in straight sets without much difficulty 6-3, 6-4. The final saw Corrie face the only remaining seed and this happened to be Evans. Corrie had not dropped a set on his way to the final, the first set went the way of Evans when Corrie dropped serve for the first time and Evans took the opportunity and went on to take the set 6-4. The second set started better for Corrie as he broke early and sped out to a 4-1 lead, unfortunately that was the last game he won as Evans went on to win the next five games to take the title.

Evans was seeded fourth and the first round he faced Matthew Barton. The Brit started slowly as the Australian delivered a breadstick in the first set, from there Evans found his way and took the next sets 6-2 and 6-3 to move into

round two. The second round found him facing alternate Filip Horansky. Evans dominated the match, delivering a bagel in the first set and taking the second 6-3. The quarter final saw the Brit face Philip Bester of Canada. Evans had little trouble in the first set as he broke Bester to take it 6-3, the second set was closer as the Canadian refused to go without a fight and forced a tiebreak. It was the tiebreak that brought the seeding of the Brit to the fore as he dominated this 7-3 to book a spot in the semi final. In the semi Evans faced Denis Shapovalov another Canadian and this was to be a tough match. The first set did not go the way of the Brit as the Canadian sneaked the set 6-4, however Evans levelled up taking the second set on a tiebreak. The final set proved to be better for Evans as he broke and sealed the win 6-4.

Liam Broady faced Yannick Mertens in the first round. The Belgian was seeded sixth and Broady stayed with Mertens in the first set, it went into a tiebreak. Broady took the breaker 7-5, the second set however saw the seed work out the Broady serve and delivered a breadstick in the second set. The final set saw the Belgian again break the Brit to seal the win 6-4

In the doubles Evans has teamed up with Lloyd Glasspool. In the first round they faced the wildcard pairing of Jack Mingjie Lin & Joshua Peck, the Canadians were no match for the Brits as Evans & Glasspool dominated the match. They lost only one game and served a bagel and breadstick along the way. In the quarter final they faced the top seeds Bester & Peter Polansky, the Brits lost the first set 4-6, but came back to take the second to a tiebreak, which again they dominated 7-1. This would mean it would be a match tiebreak to decide the semi finalists, Evans & Glasspool prevailed 10-7 to reach the semi final. This saw them face another wildcard pairing of  Shapovalov & Van Rijthoven, the Brits got off to a great start and broke quickly to take the first set 6-2. Shapovalov & Rijthoven though were not going away and the second set saw them break the Brits serve to level the match 6-4, once again a match tiebreak would be needed to decide who made the final. A very close tiebreak ensued with the Brits edging it 10-8 to make the final. The final saw the Brits against the second seeds of James Cerretani & Max Schnur, the Brits started well against the seeds and took the first set 6-3, however the seeds fought back to take the second 3-6 meaning that a match tiebreak would be needed to settle the title. Although this went very close Evans & Glasspool were unable to claim the title as they lost 9-11.

In Guadalajara James Ward was playing the singles. Unseeded Ward drew the higher ranked Albert Montanes in the first round. The Brit broke the Spaniard right at the end of the first set to take it 7-5, the second set started with both

holding. The third game proved crucial as the Brit saved several break points to hold the vital game. Ward immediately broke the next game to take a lead. From there the Brit never looked back and sealed the second set 6-3. In round two Ward faced Columbian Alejandro Gonzalez. In the first set Gonzalez broke the Brit once to seal the set 7-5, the second saw Ward break the higher ranked player twice to level up the match, to take the set 6-2. In the final set they exchanged breaks before Gonzalez got the vital break and served the match out 6-4.

In Irving Cameron Norrie had made it to the main draw through qualifying and he found himself facing Gilles Muller the second seed. Norrie put up a great performance but ultimately Muller showed his experience and took the match 6-4, 6-3. Also here in the singles was the defending champion Aljaz Bedene. The first round saw the Brit against an alternate in the form of Rogerio Dutra Silva. Bedene seeded fourth was little troubled in the first set and faced no break points, he broke just once but it was enough to take the set 6-3. The second set saw the Brit facing break points for the first time as his opponent was trying to find a way into the match. However, Bedene saved them all and broke twice to take the match 6-2. In the second round the seed faced the wildcard of Dimitry Tursunov, for the first time in the event the Brit lost a set. Tursunov managed to get onto the serve of Bedene and took the first set 6-3.From there the seed steadied the ship and took the second set 6-4, the final set was a very tight affair and went to a breaker. In the breaker the Brit stepped things up and ran away with the tiebreak 7-3 to make quarter final.

This saw the British number two face the American Frances Tiafoe, The first set was very tight and went to a tie-breaker, this was close and the seed secured the tiebreak 7-5. The second set saw the American and the Brit exchange a break of serve, before Tiafoe secured the additional break and levelled the match 6-3. The final set was very much like the first as it was very tight, both players refusing to give an inch. Eventually a tiebreak ensued, but the seed

showed the experience and took the breaker 7-4. In the Semi final the Brit faced another American, this time Jared Donaldson. Again the Brit was little troubled and took the match in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, to book a spot in the final. After rising at 5am to take part in a video conference call to the ITF regarding the appeal to be allowed to play Davis Cup for Britain, Bedene then had to prepare for the final against Marcel Granollers. The Spaniard was just too strong for the Brit and dominated the match and serving up a double breadstick.

 

After defeat in the first round in Indian Wells, Colin Fleming travelled to Irving and teamed up with Neal Skupski. Seeded third the Brits faced the German team of Philipp Petzschner & Mischa Zverev in the first round. The teams were staying toe to toe in the first set with no one getting broken so into a tiebreak it went. The Brits secured the close breaker 9-7. In the second set the Brits showed their ranking taking two break points to seal the win 6-2. The next match saw the Brits face a wildcard pairing of Nate Eazor & Chase Wood. The Brits had no trouble easing passed the American pair, taking the match with a bagel and a breadstick. In the semi final the Brits faced the top seeds of Nicholas Monroe & Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi. The third seeds started well and soon secured the first set 6-3 breaking the top seeds twice. In the second set the top seeds managed to break the Brits twice, and although Fleming & Skupski broke back once the second set went to the top seeds 7-5. A match tiebreak would be needed to decide the finalists, this was very close, but ultimately the top seeds edged the tiebreak 10-8.

In Indian Wells Dom Inglot and Robert Lindstedt faced Juan Sebastian Cabel & Robert Farah in the first round. Inglot & Lindstedt played well and although broken once in the set, they soon broke three times to seal the first set 6-3. The second set started well for Inglot & Lindstedt as they were soon leading 3-1, they won by this score as Cabel & Farah retired. The next round saw them face Jamie Murray & Bruno Soares in a mini battle of the Brits. Inglot & Lindstedt took the first set 6-4, before Murray & Soares, who were seeded fourth, levelled up taking the second set 6-3 to force a match tiebreak. In the breaker the seeds kept the momentum going and sealed the win 10-4. In the quarter finals the fourth seeds faced the team of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez. In a very tight match, the seeds took the first set on a tiebreak. Both teams were staying toe to toe and the second set also headed to a tiebreak, the Spaniards won the second set on a tiebreak to mean that a match tiebreak would settle who would be in the semi final. The final tiebreak was also very close, however the Spaniards just edged the match 10-8.

Next week Brits are in Miami