Above photo: Rebecca Marino, 2018 Winnipeg National Bank women’s singles champion. Photo by David Mahussier of 1812 Photography.
The Winnipeg National Bank Challenger was held July 7-15 at Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club. Below is a look at how some of the players who came to Winnipeg fared at other tournaments this summer.
- Rebecca Marino became the first Canadian singles champion of the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger in 2018. In August, Marino lost in the second round of qualifying at the Rogers Cup in Montreal. She then reached the quarterfinals of a $100,000 ITF women’s circuit event in Vancouver before falling to Martina Trevisan of Italy 2-6, 6-2, 7-6. In Vancouver, Marino earned a win over former world No. 12 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium.
- Julia Glushko of Israel was the women’s singles finalist in Winnipeg. She won the Granby National Bank Challenger in July, beating Australia’s Arina Rodionova in the final 6-4, 6-3. Glushko came through the qualifying rounds at the US Open, winning her first round match before losing to eventual champion Naomi Osaka of Japan 6-2, 6-0.
- Bianca Andresscu of Canada was the No. 1 seed in women’s singles at the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger. The 18-year-old reached the semifinals in Granby before losing to Julia Glushko. Andresscu was defeated in the first round of qualifying at the US Open by Serbia’s Olga Danilovic 6-3, 7-5.
- Jason Kubler of Australia was the men’s singles champion in Winnipeg. He lost the final of the Vancouver Challenger in August to Daniel Evans of Great Britain 4-6, 7-5, 7-6. At the US Open, Kubler beat No. 19 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the first round before losing to American Taylor Fritz.
- Marcel Granollers of Spain was a semifinalist in men’s singles in Winnipeg. The former world No. 19 reached the semifinals of an ATP 250 event in Newport in July, earning victories over JC Aragone, Gilles Muller and Adrian Mannarino. Granollers won three qualifying matches at the US Open before losing in the first round to Joao Sousa of Portugal.
- Peter Polansky of Canada was the No. 1 seed in men’s singles at the Winnipeg National Bank Challenger. He won the Granby Challenger in July for his 18th career pro singles title. At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Polansky lost in the second round to Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4. After losing his final qualifying match at the US Open, Polansky got in the main draw as a lucky loser (the withdrawal of a player opened a spot up) for a record fourth Grand Slam tournament in a row. In the opening round Polansky fell to No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany.