Photo : David Mahussier
Benjamin Bonzi of France is back in the win column, claiming his first title in over two years on Sunday at the 2024 Winnipeg National Bank Challenger presented by MBuilds.
The 28-year-old Frenchman defeated Japan’s Sho Shimabukuro 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 in the championship match to capture the crown at the seventh edition of the event held in the Manitoba capital.
En route to the finals, third-seeded Bonzi escaped a scare when he was forced to save a match point in the second set of his semi-final contest against China’s Bu Yunchaokete, before clawing his way back to win 3-6, 7-6(6), 6-0. Again on Sunday, the Frenchman dropped the opener but managed to serve his way past his opponent, hitting 10 aces and winning 73 per cent of first-serve points along the way.
With the win, Bonzi jumps up to No. 136 in the world and aims to close in on his career-best ranking of No. 42, which he achieved in 2023 after reaching two ATP Tour finals as well as making a third-round appearance at the Australian Open. He now heads to Granby, Quebec, where he will once again be the tournament’s No. 3 seed.
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Four Canadians were competing in the singles main draw in Winnipeg. Alexis Galarneau was the fifth seed but lost in the first round to Marc Polmans. Youngster Keegan Rice also lost round one to the previous week’s Laval champion Eliot Spizzirri.
Vasek Pospisil was competing in his first event since April and lost his opening match to Yunchaokete Bu of China.
Liam Draxl had a wildcard and was the only Canadian to pick up a win in singles at the event, defeating Gijs Brouwer in straight sets before falling to seventh seed Hugo Grenier in the third set.
In the doubles final, Christian Harrison and Cannon Kingsley’s American duo beat the Japanese team of Yuta Shimizu and Kaichi Uchida 6-1, 6-4. It was the first time that Harrison and Kingsley paired up to play together in doubles. Harrison now has four titles on the season, while Kingsley has two.
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The host nation saw more success in the doubles, where two all-Canadian squads reached the semis. Draxl and Cleeve Harper lost in the final four to the eventual champions, while Juan Carlos Aguilar and Taha Baadi were beaten by Shimizu and Uchida.
The 2024 tournament at the National Bank Tennis MB Hub at West St. Paul has officially wrapped up, and the next event part of the National Bank Challenger series is already underway, with qualifying matches currently taking place at Tennis St-Luc in Granby.
