North Vancouver junior tennis sensation Filip Peliwo and retired Swiss superstar Martina Hingis brought a lot of buzz to the opening days of the Odlum Brown VanOpen taking place this week at West Vancouver's Hollyburn Country Club.

On Tuesday Peliwo, winner of the Wimbledon junior boys singles championship last month, played his first hometown match as a professional, taking on Taiwan's Jimmy Wang. Peliwo started strongly but faded in the second set as Wang took the match 7-6(4), 6-0.

On Wednesday night Hingis took centre stage, scoring a 6-3, 6-3 win over Canadian pro Sharon Fichman in an exhibition match. Hingis made several appearances at the tournament to promote her new tennis clothing line made with Vancouver-based apparel company Tonic.

The VanOpen finals are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday ‹ visit www.vanopen.com for updated schedules and results.