NORTH Vancouver teen tennis phenom Filip Peliwo hoped to parlay some recent success into a long run in his hometwon pro tournament last week but instead was left disappointed after an early exit at the hands of a familiar foe.
Fellow Canadian Frank Dancevic knocked off the two-time junior Grand Slam champion 6-3, 6-4 Tuesday night in the opening round of the Odlum Brown VanOpen, making it the second straight year that Peliwo has been one-and-done on his home turf. Last year Peliwo was in between his Wimbledon and U.S. Open junior title wins when he hit Hollyburn Country Club looking to prove himself against the big boys. This year the situation was slightly different - Peliwo is a full-time pro now - but the result was the same.
Dancevic, a 28-year-old Niagara Falls native ranked No. 165 in the world, used his superior size and experience to thwart the former North Shore Winter Club player's attacks. Peliwo put together some incredible sequences, showing flashes of the game that earned him the title of ITF World Junior Champion for 2012, but for the most part was left muttering to himself as Dancevic took control.
"Frank was just better today," Peliwo said after the match. "It's really disappointing losing this match. Coming here for just one match - I thought I could do a lot better than that today, that's for sure. But it's great to play in Vancouver, for sure. I always like playing here. Everyone here in the crowd was great - that's all I can ask for, I guess."
The move from junior to senior men's tennis is notoriously tough, even for Grand Slam champions like Peliwo. The fact that he is still a youngster was underscored after the match as he sat on a stone wall just outside the centre court entrance getting cheered up by his family. Patrons who paid to watch him play filed by on their way to the beer cooler - a place Peliwo was not legally able to visit in British Columbia just six months ago.
After cooling down a little bit Peliwo admitted that he got himself too worked up about playing at home.
"Congrats to Frankie for a good match," he posted on his Twitter account. "I got a bit too excited and stressed today but (I'm) on the right track."
The loss actually came when Peliwo was making a little breakthrough on tour. Two weeks before the VanOpen he reached the quarterfinals at a Challenger event in Granby, Que. - he lost to Dancevic there too - before ripping off three straight wins to make the semifinals of another Challenger tournament in Lexington, Ky.
The results pushed his world ranking up more than 150 spots in two weeks, all the way up to a career high 353. He'll have a chance to build on that this week at the Rogers Cup in Montreal, a tournament that will feature the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Milos Raonic. On Thursday Peliwo was given a wildcard berth into the main draw after Gael Monfils of France withdrew due to injury.
Peliwo said that it's been a struggle jumping into the pro game but there are a lot of positive signs.
"I'm happy with my general performance over the summer, it's starting to come along a bit but there's definitely still a lot of work to be done," he said, adding he hopes to make a splash in Montreal. "If I can bring my tennis to where it needs to be to play those guys - which I think I can - I think that if I can be a bit more consistent I can do some damage there and kind of break through a little bit. It's definitely a good opportunity."
The VanOpen wraps up today with the women's singles and men's doubles and singles finals. The action is scheduled to start at noon. Visit vanopen.com for updated results and schedules.
