Next Gen ATP Players Advance to Second Round of Men’s Singles at Odlum Brown VanOpen

North Vancouver’s Philip Bester and Partner Marius Copil of Romania Win Opening Match of Men’s Doubles Play

West Vancouver, BC – The men’s singles main draw got underway on Monday at the Odlum Brown VanOpen with three Next Gen ATP players moving into the second round.

Quentin Halys of France needed just under 75 minutes to win 7-6(2), 6-3 over American Ryan Shane, who gained a Lucky Loser spot after Canadian Peter Polansky withdrew late due to a wrist injury.

Among the other matches involving Next Gen ATP players, Austria’s Sebastian Ofner topped German Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-3 while qualifier Max Purcell of Australia eliminated Italian Benjamin Bonzi 7-5, 6-4.

Qualifier Lloyd Harris of South Africa continued his hot play with a 7-5, 6-2 win over fourth seed Norbert Gombos of Slovakia. Fifth seed Henri Laaksonen of Switzerland was eliminated when he retired in the second set against Belgian Joris De Loore.

Men’s doubles started Monday as well, with Canadian Philip Bester and Romania’s Marius Copil triumphing over the all-Canadian wild card team of George Jecminek and Luka Vukovic 6-4, 6-2. Fellow Canadians Filip Peliwo and Brayden Schnur fell 6-4, 6-4 to Dudi Sela of Israel and South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, who signed up to play doubles just minutes before the deadline.

Eight players punched their ticket to the final round of women’s singles qualifying with victories on Monday. Among the winners were qualifying round fifth seed Miyu Kato of Japan and qualifying round sixth seed Silvia Soler-Espinosa,

Matches continue on Tuesday, August 15 at 10 am, including Men’s Singles and Doubles Main Draw First Round and Women’s Singles Qualifying Final Round and Women’s Doubles Main Draw First Round. Tickets to the Odlum Brown VanOpen are on sale now, starting as low as $30.

Photo credit: Bo Mon Kwan