Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard gave the Odlum Brown VanOpen boost and buzz it hasn’t seen in a long time, but in the end it was Japan’s Misaki Doi and Great Britain’s Daniel Evans who hoisted the hardware.
Doi, formerly ranked as high as No. 30 in the world, dropped the first set in the final but came back to win the next two for a 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-4 win over Great Britain’s Heather Watson.
On the men’s side Evans also needed to go the distance after dropping the first set of the final, coming back to win 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) over Australia’s Jason Kunler in a match that lasted nearly three hours on Centre Court at West Vancouver’s Hollyburn Country Club.
"It was a tough week, but it doesn't feel that tough when you come to this club every day,” Evans said after the match. “It's unique, especially on the Challenger Tour, really there are some Tour events not as good as this tournament. The crowd is incredible, they come out to the matches every single day - some of the matches aren't that great, my own included. To win is great, and I really enjoy every time I come to Vancouver."
The victory came five years after Evans, who moved to No. 226 in the world with the win, lost to Canada’s Vasek Pospisil in the 2013 VanOpen final. Evans got his revenge this year, beating Pospisil, the No. 1 seed in this year’s event, in three sets in the semifinals on Saturday.
This year’s tournament generated a lot of interest given the presence of Bouchard, a Montreal native who reached No. 5 in the world in 2014. She was Tennis Canada’s Female Player of the Year in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and earned the Bobby Rosenfeld award as Canada’s top female athlete in 2013 and 2014.
Bouchard won her first two matches before falling to Japan’s Nao Hibino 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinals on Friday.
