Raphaelle Lacasse was the star for the host nation last week as she claimed the doubles crown at the ITF W15 tournament in Montreal alongside American Christina McHale. The pair dominated the field at IGA Stadium, not dropping a set on their way to the title.
Despite being unseeded, Lacasse and McHale, a former world No. 24 in singles on the WTA Tour, tore through the draw, taking out the top three seeded teams on their way to victory.
They beat third seeds Dasha Ivanova and Amy Zhu in the quarters, top seeds Jaeda Daniel and Michaela Laki in the semis, and second seeds Sara Daavettila and Sabastiani Leon 7-5, 6-1 in the final. It is the second ITF doubles title of Lacasse’s career and first of the season.
Ariana Arseneault had the best showing by a Canadian in the singles draw, reaching the semifinals where she lost to top seed Emily Appleton of Great Britain in straight sets. She was the lone Canadian woman to reach the singles quarter-finals. With her semifinal run, Arseneault is now up to fourth in the Road to the NBO.
Appleton was looking for back-to-back titles in Quebec after winning in Sherbrooke the previous week but was beaten in the final by Christasha McNeil.
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Canada had a couple of close calls on the men’s side, an M15 event, but the hosts were not able to get their hands on a champion’s trophy.
Joshua Lapadat reached the singles final as a wildcard, having upset third seed Strong Kirchheimer in three sets in the first round. The Canadian needed three sets in his first three matches before a straight-set win over Jesse Flores of Costa Rica in the semifinals. In the final, he was narrowly edged out by second seed Alex Rybakov 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
As a result of his finals run, Lapadat jumps up to third in the Road to the NBO but still has a lot of ground to make up on Alexis Galarneau and Liam Draxl.
Three Canadian men reached the quarter-finals, an improvement on the previous week in Sherbrooke. Nicolas Arseneault, who had beaten his twin brother Mikael in the first round and then seventh-seeded Canadian Dan Martin in the second, lost to the eventual champion Rybakov. Benjamin Thomas George upset the fourth seed Noah Schachter in the second round in straight sets before falling in the last eight to eighth seed Ezekiel Clark.
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Nicaise Muamba came close to claiming the doubles crown but was also defeated in the final. He and American partner Jake van Emburgh were edged out by Andrew Fenty and Daniel Milavsky 7-6(5), 4-6, 10-7. Muamba and van Emburgh had beaten George and his American partner Oren Vasser in the semis.
There will now be a break from professional events in Canada until the summer. The next event on the men’s calendar is in Laval at the end of June, while the women will be home again in mid-July in Granby. Those summer events will be critical in the Road to the NBO as points will count double.
CLICK HERE for the latest standings in the Road to the NBO.
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