Sebov Aiming for Title Defence in Saguenay

Week three of the ITF fall swing through Canada brings the tour back east this week as Katherine Sebov and Carson Branstine star for the home nation at the Challenger Banque Nationale de Saguenay in Quebec. 

Sebov, who is the defending champion in Saguenay, and Branstine are the only two seeded Canadians in the singles draw at No. 6 and No. 8 respectively. There are nine Canadians in total in the competition. 

Both seeded Canadians open against Japanese qualifiers. Sebov kicked off her title defence on Tuesday with a win over Mana Kawamura while Branstine meets Rinon Okuwaki. Lucija Ciric Bagaric of Croatia is the top seed. She could face Canadian Stacey Fung in the second round and is Sebov’s projected quarter-final opponent. 

Calgary semifinalist Cadence Brace will look to bring some momentum east but faces a challenge in round one against No. 5 seed Robin Anderson. She could have an all-Canadian clash in round two against Ariana Arseneault. 

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One first-round match that took place on Monday was a battle between Canada’s top two juniors: Nadia Lagaev (junior world No. 49) and Emma Dong (No. 85). Lagaev defeated Dong 6-3, 6-4. Both received wild cards into their third main draw of a women’s tour event. Lagaev will face third seed Gabriela Knutson.  

Ana Grubor is in the same quarter as her two young compatriots and could meet one of them in the quarter-finals. She opens against Anna Rogers and may have to go through No. 7 seed Viktoria Hruncakova in the second round. 

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Kayla Cross kicks off her singles campaign against Tara Moore and could face second seed Justina Mikulskyte of Lithuania in the second round. 

In the doubles, Cross will be looking to win her third title on home soil in as many weeks after emerging victorious in both Edmonton and Calgary. Both of those titles came with American partner Maribella Zamarripa, but this week she is teaming up with fellow Canadian Arseneault. They are the third seeds in Saguenay and are in the bottom half of the draw with second seeds Dalayna Hewitt and Anna Rogers of the United States. 

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Cross and Arseneault are one of three all-Canadian teams in the doubles draw. Zoya Chulak and Anastasia Malysheva play top seeds Magali Kempen and Lara Salden of Belgium in round one. Lagaev and Dong teamed up but lost in the first round. 

Three other Canadians are competing with foreign partners in the doubles: Brace with American Paris Corley, Gabriella Lindgren with Haiti’s Love-Star Alexis, and Raphaelle Lacasse with Samantha Alicea.