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| Winnipeg’s Kevin Kylar came close to a big upset over no. 4-seeded Vijayant Malik of India. |
By Geoff Kirbyson
Missed it by that much.
Kevin Kylar came oh-so-close to becoming the first Manitoban ever to earn an International Tennis Federation ranking point during the Manshield Tennis Futures tournament at the Sargent Park Tennis Garden on Wednesday.
After losing the first set of his first round match to India’s Vijayant Malik 6-3, the 19-year-old Winnipegger won a battle of the breaks (of serve) to take the second set 6-3.
Kylar, who had several outbursts over what he perceived were bad line calls during the match, held a 3-2 lead but was unable to convert a break point for 4-2 and eventually fell 6-4. Malik is ranked 447th in the world.
Two weeks ago, Kylar was one match away from getting that elusive point but he lost a straight sets match at a tournament in Calgary.
Matthew Akman, who grew up playing tennis in Winnipeg, earned an ITF point a couple of decades ago, but by that time he had moved away from Manitoba.
Top seed Filip Peliwo from Vancouver plays his second round match against Sweden’s Patrik Rosenholm at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday.
Manshield Tennis Futures updates are available at www.winnipegfutures.com
See also…
> First Round Complete at Winnipeg Futures
> Road to U.S. Open runs through Winnipeg
> First Round Underway at Winnipeg Futures
