Music: {allcanada} Pospisil upsets Isner at Rogers Cup

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

{allcanada} Pospisil upsets Isner at Rogers Cup

MONTREAL –It was a huge day for Canada at the men's Rogers Cup.

Filip Peliwo, Frank Dancevic and Vasek Pospisil all pulled off three-set victories on Tuesday to advance to the second round of the Masters 1000 hardcourt tennis event.

With Jesse Levine of Ottawa's win on Monday, it put four Canadians into the second round – with a chance for a fifth when 13th-seeded Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., takes on Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in a night match.

The last time Canada had even three in the second round of the event that was once called the Canadian Open was in 1993.

"It's amazing," said Dancevic, who downed Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan 5-7, 7-6 (6), 6-1. "It's a Masters series event and pretty much everyone you play here is at a high level, ranked in the top 50, so to have four guys through the first round shows a lot about how far Canadian tennis has come along.

"It's really great to see and it's been showing up more and more in all the tournaments."

It was a first win in an ATP event this year for Dancevic, who has been doing well of late in lower-level tournaments.

Peliwo, who became the first Canadian male to win a junior grand slam event at Wimbledon in 2012, staved off a match point with what he called a "lucky" shot at the net for a 3-6, 7-5, 3-1 win over 39th-ranked Jarkko Nieminen 3-6, 7-5, 3-1.

The Finnish left-hander was forced to retire in the third set with a hamstring injury.

Pospisil upset one of the hottest players on the ATP Tour as he outlasted 20th-ranked American John Isner 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) before a roaring crowd on centre court.

The only Canadian to fall thus far was Peter Polansky of Thornhill, who got to the main draw through the qualifying tournament but then lost to ninth-seeded Kei Nishikori on Monday.

The Canadian men had already reached a milestone this year when they defeated Italy to reach the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time.

And with Raonic ranked 13th and Pospisil recently risen to 71st, it is the first time Canada has had two players in the world's top 75 since Andrew Sznejder and Grant Connell in 1990.

Peliwo looked ready for an early exit when he fell behind 3-0 in the second set and then was taken to match point with 32-year-old Niemenin leading 5-4. But he found a way out of that jam and went on to win the set and the match.

"Basically, I went to the net after a rally, hit a pretty lame volley, kind of popped it up," the 19-year-old said. "He hit a forehand, I kind of moved to the right expecting it down the line and I guess he changed his mind a bit and hit it right towards my direction.

"I just threw my hands up like that. Just reflex."

The 19-year-old Peliwo is ranked 353rd in the world, but the victory over 39th-ranked Niemenin should put him into the top-300.

"It's definitely the best feeling I've had in a while," he said. "It's such a big win for me.

"Ranking-wise, I'll get a lot of points. Confidence, to be able to say I beat a top-40 player. I'm still trying to realize what I did."

Peliwo will face 66th-ranked Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the second round on Wednesday.

Pospisil will face No. 51 Radek Stepanek, who upset 12th seeded Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3.

Dancevic takes on 15th-seeded Jerzy Janowicz, who beat Julien Benneteau 3-6, 6-3, 7-5.

In other matches, 13th-seeded Fabio Fognini downed Marcos Baghdatis 1-6, 6-1, 6-1, Alex Bogolomov of Russia beat Michael Llodra of France 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 and Mikhail Youzhny defeated Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 7-6 (3).

In doubles, Rafael Nadal and Pablo Andujar fought off two match points to beat fellow Spaniards David Ferrer and Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (2), 6-4, 12-10.