France’s Constant Lestienne and Valentini Grammatikopoulou of Greece came away as champions as the Odlum Brown VanOpen tennis tournament returned to West Vancouver’s Hollyburn Country Club for the first time since 2019.
Grammatikopoulou got championship Sunday (Aug. 21) started in fine style, completing an epic run of upsets with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over second seed Lucia Bronzetti of Italy to win the women’s title. In doing so, Grammatikopoulou became the first woman to claim the VanOpen singles title after fighting through the qualifying round to make it into the tournament. It was also the first career WTA title for the 25-year-old.
“It feels very special because I came without a coach and I had a lot of support from my friends here. I enjoyed Vancouver so much that in the end, I was really relaxed playing tennis,” Grammatikopoulou said after the win. “This year [has been] really tough, I had a lot of anxiety and depression because when you don’t have results, it really affects your life and on the court as well.”
On the men’s side it was two countrymen battling in the final, with Lestienne topping fellow Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 to win the title. Lestienne, who claimed his third Challenger title of the last two months, also beat a Frenchman in the VanOpen semifinals to make Sunday’s final.
“The match with Arthur was tough, we know each other, we’re friends and it’s never easy to play against each other,” said Lestienne. “You have to forget that you are friends and try to give your best, so today it went to me, it was really tight and maybe the next one will go to Arthur, he’s a good player.”
British Columbia native Vasek Pospisil had a strong showing in the tournament, reaching the semifinals before losing 4-6, 4-6 Rinderknech.
This was the first year that the tournament held ATP Challenger Tour 125 and WTA 125 level designations, offering more points and prize money than any other event in VanOpen history.
