Singles’ Titles will be awarded on the final day of match play at the Odlum Brown VanOpen

It’s Championship Sunday as the Men’s and Women’s Singles finals wrap up a busy week of tennis at the Hollyburn Country Club in West Vancouver. The Women’s Final between Heather Watson and Sara Sorribes Tormo will begin at noon with the men’s final between Ricardis Berankis and Jason Jung to be played not before 1:30pm PST.

Canadian wildcard entry Leylah Annie Fernandez saw her impressive run to the semis come to an end against Britain’s Heather Watson. Fernandez, the 2019 Junior Roland Garros Champion, was bested by a score of 7-6 (4), 6-2. Just a few weeks shy of her 17^th birthday, she viewed her maiden Odlum Brown VanOpen appearance as a valuable learning experience. “Every match was tough, I learned a lot every round, even today I learned what I need to do for the next tournament.” Fernandez said in her post-match interview.

Her counterpart had strong praise for the young Canadian. “I think if she continues playing this she’ll definitely be [in the] top-100 an then who knows how far [she] can go from there” Watson said after the match.

The veteran Brit is playing impeccable tennis. She won four straight games to win the second set and close out the win while also posting 5 aces in the match. The 2018 Finalist has yet to drop a set en-route to clinching a consecutive berth in the finals. Watson will look to finish what she started and win the 2019 crown, but it won’t come easy.

No. 3 seed Sara Sorribes Tormo bested Hungary’s Timea Babos in her Semifinal match to advance to the finals. Spain’s Sorribes Tormo, emerged from an hour long first set by a score of 6-4 before storming past Babos 6-0 in a second set that lasted just 28 minutes.

Watson and Sorribes Tormo have only played each other once, back in 2017 in Seoul. Sorribes Tormo took the match by a score of 6-3, 0-6, 6-1.

Doubles

Doubles partners (and best friends) Nao Hibino and Miyu Kato captured the doubles crown on Saturday afternoon. The Japanese duo bested New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and British partner Naomi Broady 6-2, 6-2 to claim their first doubles title of 2019.

Men’s Final

Top seed Ricardas Berankis stormed past fellow veteran player Go Soeda of Japan 6-1, 6-1 in their Semifinal duel. Berankis is looking for his 4^th ATP Challenger title of 2019 on Sunday. The Lithuanian has already won on Canadian soil as he captured the Challenger Banque Nationale title in Drummondville, Quebec in March.

Berankis will face Taiwan’s Jason Jung who bested Maxime Janvier of France 7-5, 7-6(4) in his semifinal match. Jung was able to advance despite struggling to return Janvier’s serve as the Frenchman racked up 12 aces in a losing cause. Jung is a former University of Michigan Wolverine and has won one ATP Challenger title this year as he took home to crown in Gwanju, China.

Despite their tenured careers, Berankis and Jung have only played each other once with Berankis winning the 2014 match by a score of 7-5, 2-6, 6-0.

Doubles

Pickering’s Adil Shamasdin and partner from the Philippines Treat Huey were unable to capture the doubles crown as they fell 6-2, 7-5 to Swede Robert Lindstedt and British partner Jonny O’Mara.

It’s been an amazing week of elite tennis action at the 2019 Odlum Brown VanOpen and although just one day remains it is sure to be the best as both the men’s and women’s singles champion will be crowned!

(Feature photo : Jon Benjamin)