It was a good run for the hometown favourite while it lasted.
Vernon’s Vasek Pospisil, easily the fan favourite all week in Vancouver, lost in the semifinals of the Odlum Brown VanOpen tennis tournament, a combined ATP Challenger Tour and WTA 125 event, held at the Hollyburn Country Club.
Pospisil lost 6-4, 6-4 Saturday to France’s Arthur Rinderknech, ranked No. 64 in the world.
“We all know how good Vasek is, especially here in Canada, so I’m happy to get the win. 6-4, 6-4 is a good score for me and I didn’t spend too much time on the court even though it was pretty physical because Vasek always makes it physical,” said Rinderknech, who took on countryman Constant Lestienne, ranked No. 94, in the championship.
Lestienne defeated Rinderknech 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 to win the title.
Lestienne booked his spot in the Odlum Brown VanOpen men’s final with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 semifinal victory over another French player, 24-year-old Ugo Humbert, who’s ranked World No. 155.
On the women’s side,Valentini Grammatikopoulou of Greece made history in more ways than one on Sunday.
Not only is the 25-year-old the first player to win the tournament as a WTA 125 level event, which she did with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over second seed Lucia Bronzetti of Italy, but Grammatikopoulou is also the first woman from the qualifying round to make it all the way to hoisting the trophy as the women’s singles champion.
Grammatikopoulou needed three sets to get by American Emma Navarro 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in a semifinal on Saturday.
Bronzettiy punched her ticket for the women’s singles final with a 6-2, 6-2 win over fifth seed Rebecca Peterson of Sweden that took only 68 minutes to play.
The Odlum Brown VanOpen is Western Canada’s largest and most celebrated tennis event. It offers a total of $274,360 USD in prize money and provides players the opportunity to gain valuable world-ranking points on both the ATP Tour and WTA Tour. It annually attracts 130 international and professional players from more than 35 countries.
Pospisil, Milos Raonic, Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray, Leylah Fernandez, Johanna Konta, Kevin
Anderson, Eugenie Bouchard, Marion Bartoli, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Bianca Andreescu, Taylor Fritz, Naomi Osaka and Karolina Pliskova are among the top stars who began their careers at the Odlum Brown VanOpen.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with final results Monday, Aug. 22, at 10:40 a.m.
READ MORE: Semifinal berth for Vernon’s Pospisil in Vancouver
READ MORE: Vernon’s Vasek Pospisil owns the court in Vancouver
roger@vernonmorningstar.com
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.