The quarterfinal round has not been very kind to Canadian tennis as of late. Vasek Posposil bowed out in the Wimbeldon quarterfinals, and today it was Brayden Schnur who lost in the Pan Games quarterfinals meaning no Canadian will be in the medal round of men’s tennis.
The Toronto native lost in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to the tournament’s fourth seed, American Dennis Novakov. The 21-year-old Novakov is currently ranked 215 in the World. Taking Novakov down would have been a big leap for the Canadian, who is ranked 540.
Schnurr was the only Canadian man left standing by the quarterfinal round. The top ranked Canadian in the tournament, Phil Bester, lost in three sets to the tournament number one, Facundo Bagnis of Argentina. Peter Polansky, the tournament’s 16th seed, was eliminated in the second round.
However it was the unranked Canadian who made the most noise. Schnur pulled off back to back upsets, beating the seventh seeded Darien King before taking down the twelfth seed Eduardo Struvay. Both victories came in straight sets.
The way he lost today was very reminiscent of Posposil, playing against a better opponent but putting up quite a fight. Like Posposil he also didn’t get any favours from the chair ump either.
While losing to Novakov is far from a letdown for Schnur the way he did was a little disappointing. He saw his serve broken in each set and overall did not serve particularly well in the match.
Mentally he struggled a little as calls and points didn’t go his way. It was clear in that regard that Novakov had far more big tournament experience, having gone as far as the second round at the US Open in 2012.
The crowd at the Canadian Tennis Centre was pro Canadian, however it was also fairly sparse. Around 100 people were in attendance to watch the match. Considering the fact that the venue can hold 12,500 it was a little bit disappointing.
Loss aside, however, at just 20 years of age Schnur made a statement during this tournament: he wants to be one of the names in the increasingly strong pool of young Canadian tennis players. Currently with University of North Carolina Tar Heels he has a long way to go, but the talent to get there.
Athletically he was good throughout the tournament, as even today he outran his opponent. While his serve was inconsistent today it is strong and did give Novakov plenty of problems at times, especially early.
Schnur also clearly has plenty of confidence, winning difficult points with his back against the wall. This is one of the key pre-requisites to going moving up the tour standings, and played a big role in the Canadian’s impressive run at the Pan Am Games.
While Schnur left centre court at the Canadian Tennis Centre today looking disappointed, it’s unlikely this will be his last time at the venue. The next time the crowd will undoubtedly be bigger and the tournament that much more important.
