Home cooking tastes extra sweet for Vernon鈥檚 Vasek Pospisil as the 2013 Odlum Brown VanOpen champion was back on the courts at Hollyburn Country Club in Tuesday鈥檚 evening feature match and knocked off Felipe Meligeni Alves of Brazil in straight sets 7-5, 6-3.
Pospisil, 32, has tried to find his game after dealing with an elbow injury earlier in the year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a tough year, coming back from injury, (I鈥檓 just) trying to get some momentum,鈥� he said post-match on Tuesday.
He鈥檚 currently ranked World No. 145 and Pospisil, who is now a resident of Vancouver, relishes the opportunity to play in his own backyard.
鈥淚t means a lot, there鈥檚 only a handful of events you can play here at home, here in Vancouver.鈥�
鈥淚 think this is only my fifth time playing in the last 12 years here and it鈥檚 special to play in front of friends and family,鈥� Pospisil continued. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 happen a lot and it鈥檚 a little bit of extra pressure but at the same time, I actually really enjoy it. Especially summer in Vancouver, you can鈥檛 beat it, I love coming home.鈥�
Pospisil鈥檚 opponent in the second round is Australian Jordan Thompson. The two face off on Centre Court in Wednesday鈥檚 evening feature match-up at the Odlum Brown VanOpen.
In other men鈥檚 action, 23-year-old wild card Alexis Galarneau advanced to the round of 16 after upsetting top seed Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan. The Laval, QC native dropped the opening set 5-7 before taking the second set 6-4. Nishioka, who鈥檚 ranked World No. 51, retired with an injury early in the third set on Tuesday night with the score at 0-0.
On the women鈥檚 side, all three Canadians in singles action on Tuesday dropped their first-round matches.
Vancouver鈥檚 Rebecca Marino fell 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(7) to American Emma Navarro while wild card Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal lost 6-2, 6-2 to Arianne Hartono of the Netherlands. Wild card Marina Stakusic, who hails from Mississauga, ON, was ousted 6-3, 6-3 in her match against qualifier Priscilla Hon of Australia.
Wednesday鈥檚 matches at the Odlum Brown VanOpen start at 10 am, including the second round of men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 singles as well as the first round of men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 doubles.
Going into the match, Pospisil was ranked 145th in the world while Alves is 143rd.
Pospisil won this tournament back in 2013. He is one of four Canadians playing in this year鈥檚 event.
His matches can be found to watch on the VanOpen website.
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