Photo: Kyle Clapham
The men’s and women’s singles finals have been determined for championship Sunday at the Calgary National Bank Challenger which is a combined event for the first time this year. The tournament is being hosted at the OSTEN & VICTOR Alberta Tennis Centre in Calgary.
During the semifinals on Saturday, Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo was trying to ensure that a Canadian would play for a singles title but came up short in his bid to reach a third ATP Challenger Tour final this season. The 21-year-old, who has enjoyed a successful collegiate career in the NCAA’s Division I with the Kentucky Wildcats, fell 7-6(2), 6-1 to former world no. 50 Dominik Koepfer. With the win, the German advances to his second Challenger final in 2022 after finishing as the runner-up in Cary, North Carolina in early September. Despite the loss, Diallo’s performance will allow him to achieve a career-best ranking of no. 222 on Monday as his breakthrough campaign on the professional circuit continues.
Koepfer will face world no. 165 Aleksandar Vukic for the title. The 26-year-old Aussie beat Polish qualifier Maks Kasnikowski 7-5, 7-6(2) to advance to his second Challenger championship match of the 2022 season. He was also a quarter-finalist at the ATP 250 event in Sofia, Bulgaria in September. Kasnikowski upset Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the final eight on Friday night.
Montgomery vs. Radwanska for the Women’s Title
The women’s final will see former world no. 29 Urszula Radwanska of Poland take on fifth-seeded American Robin Montgomery. Radwanska ousted second-seeded Eudice Chong of Hong Kong 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 to reach her first ITF final of the season. She was also a semifinalist at the Tevlin Challenger in Toronto two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Montgomery topped her compatriot Jamie Loeb 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(3) in the second semifinal and will play in her third ITF final of the year on Sunday. Montgomery will be looking to avenge the loss she suffered at the hands of Radwanska in the Toronto quarter-finals.
The doubles trophies were also handed out on Saturday. The American team of Catherine Harrison and Sabrina Santamaria took home the women’s crown thanks to a 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over the Canadian duo of Kayla Cross and Marina Stakusic. The men’s title went to the third-seeded pair of Maximillian Neuchrist and Michail Pervolarakis who defeated Julian Ocleppo and Kai Wehnelt 6-4, 6-4.
Sunday’s action gets underway at 1 p.m. local time in Calgary with the presentation of both singles finals.
