There was no rust evident for the Odlum Brown VanOpen pro tennis tournament which wrapped up on Sunday, back at Hollyburn Country Club after a one-year hiatus.
The tournament, in fact, looked more polished than ever, the addition of 30 new spectator boxes ringing Centre Court making for a more regal and professional stadium appearance for the tournament’s top matches. And judging by the rankings of the players in attendance – these were the strongest men’s and women’s fields in the tournament’s history – and the calibre of play on the court, the new VanOpen leadership crew proved they are more than up to the challenge of keeping this tournament rolling as one of the most popular events on the men’s ATP Challenger Tour and women’s ITF Pro Circuit.
On Sunday two more players added their names to the list of singles champions that includes tennis luminaries such as Marcos Baghdatis, Vasek Pospisil, Aleksandra Wozniak, four-time winner Dudi Sela, and, of course, Maria Sharapova, who won the tournament in its inaugural year in 2002.
Maryna Zanevska, a 23-year-old who was born in Ukraine and competes for Belgium, claimed the 2017 women’s title after losing the first set of the final against eighth-seeded Danka Kovinic but battling back to win the match 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. Zanevska was an unseeded player in the VanOpen tournament, and the win bumped her up from No. 128 to No. 105 in the world rankings.
“I’m super happy right now, if someone had told me before the tournament that I was going to win it, I would have said, ‘That’s a good joke!’” Zanevska said after the match. “Thank- you to the people who make this tournament possible, all the sponsors, it’s a really great atmosphere here to play. It’s always more fun to play when such a big crowd is cheering for you. I really hope I can come back again next year because it’s really an amazing place.”
On the men’s side Germany’s Cedrik-Marcel Stebe put on a clinic in the VanOpen final, blasting to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over second-seeded Jordan Thompson of Australia. The match took just 54 minutes to play, making it the second fastest ATP Challenger final of the year.
“It feels unreal,” said Stebe after the win. “I haven’t had a short final like this before and I was just trying to play my best tennis. He’s a really good player and I was trying to be tough in each situation.”
This was Stebe’s second Challenger title of the year as he rockets back up the rankings after missing nearly three years of play due to injury. Stebe reached a career high of No. 71 in 2012 but hip surgery and other ailments kept him off the court. The VanOpen win moved Stebe up 22 spots in the world ranking to No. 106. Thompson was ranked No. 79 coming into the VanOpen, and Stebe said he was playing at his best when he knocked the Aussie off in dominant fashion.
“This is one of the top matches I’ve had – maybe not the best one – but still a very good one, I’m really happy with my performance,” said Stebe. “I just want to keep it up and hopefully win some more matches next week in New York at the US Open.”
Championship Sunday at Hollyburn started with Great Britain’s Neal Skupski and James Cerretani of the United States teaming up to beat Treat Huey of the Philippines and Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt 7-6(6), 6-2 in the men’s doubles final.
“We’ve played well all week and we’ve prepared well for each match,” said Skupski, who also won a Challenger doubles title the previous week with a different partner. “It’s such a great tournament here, it’s my first time in Vancouver, I love it and I think I’ll probably come back next year.”
Huey was attempting to earn his fourth doubles championship at the VanOpen after winning in 2010, 2011 and 2015.
In women’s doubles two tag-team experts combined to take the VanOpen crown on Saturday night, with Jessica Moore of Australia and Jocelyn Rae of Great Britain defeating Desirae Krawczyck of the United States and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico 6-1, 7-5. It was Moore’s 25th career ITF Pro Circuit doubles crown and Rae’s 23rd.
“I think we played unbelievable to be honest, we were just on fire, playing point by point, and had great energy,” said Moore. “Credit to them though, they came back in the second set and made it a contest. It’s our third week playing together and we’re just having so much fun and I think that helps – just having fun out there.”
Vancouver tennis lovers were taken by surprise with the announcement in early 2016 that the VanOpen, the second largest pro tennis tournament in Canada, was shutting down. The tournament’s demise coincided with the departure of longtime tournament chairman and underwriter Floyd Hill, who stepped down from his time consuming role to spend more time with his family and pursue other interests.
There was not tournament held in 2016, but it wasn’t game over – early this year it was announced that the tournament would continue with Carlota Lee taking over as the chairwoman as well as former champion Rik de Voest coming on board as the new tournament director. The rebooted tournament slotted right back into their regular tour spot in 2017 with the same US$200,000 prize pool.
