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After winning his first title of the season in Las Vegas just a few weeks ago, Vasek Pospisil continued on his momentum by defeating compatriot Brayden Schnur, the tournament’s top seed, in the final at the Charlottesville Challenger in three sets by a score of 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-2.
It was the first all-Canadian final on the ATP Challenger circuit since 2017 when Peter Polansky and Denis Shapovalov faced off for the trophy in Gatineau. The Schnur-Pospisil duel was also the first meeting between Canadian players in a Challenger final outside of Canada since 1999, when Frederic Niemeyer and Sébastien Lareau played each other in the championship match at the Urbana Challenger.
Pospisil, who fired 12 aces and won 73% of his first service points, relied on his experience to get the better of Schnur after over two hours of play.
CHAMPION! 🏆@VasekPospisil defeats fellow Canadian Brayden Schnur 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3 in a #ClashofCanadians special at the @ATPChallenger in Charlottesville.
It’s a second consecutive Challenger title in a row for Vasek, who won in Las Vegas a few weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/K9HPnqeH6X
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) November 3, 2019
Benefitting from the early elimination of Karlovic [2], Daniel [4] and Polansky [8] in the tournament, Pospisil [10] managed to reach the final without dropping a single set against the likes of Kavcic, O’Connell [7], Peliwo and Nakashima.
For his part, Schnur was in search of his first title of the year. Despite being the tournament favourite, the Canadian did not have an easy path, playing on court for close to 7-and-a-half hours against the likes of Song, Bangoura, Rola [6] and Popko [16] in order to reach his third final of the season, having notably taken part in the final of the ATP 250 event in New York earlier this year.
As of tomorrow, Pospisil and Schnur will be back competing in the Knoxville Challenger – where they will be the 13th and 2nd seeds, respectively – and could once again face each other in the final.
(Feature photo: ATP Challenger Tour)
