Canadian men sweep first-round qualifiers at Indian Wells

Rudi Schuller

Canadian men sweep first-round qualifiers at Indian Wells image

Canada went 3-for-3 in the first round of qualifiers at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Calif., on Tuesday.

Vasek Pospisil got things started when he eased past American Brandon Nakashima 6-0, 7-6, taking just 85 minutes to claim victory.

Following in Pospisil's footsteps was Toronto's Peter Polansky, who had a slightly tougher time in defeating Salvadoran Marcelo Arevalo 7-5, 6-3, but still only needed 10 more minutes than his compatriot to seal the victory.

After Pospisil and Polansky booked their spots in the next round of qualifying, the youngest of the Canadian contingent had to wait until one of the final matches of the day to get a chance to join his countrymen in the win column. Felix Auger-Aliassime did just that, with the 17-year-old taking down American Bjorn Fratangelo in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4.

All three men advanced to Wednesday's second round qualifiers. Pospisil takes on Spaniard Adrian Menendez-MacEiras, Polansky faces Italy's Matteo Berrettini, and Auger-Aliassime will meet Norbert Gombos of Slovakia.

Should any of the Canadians win their second-round qualifiers, they will join the main draw alongside Denis Shapovalov and Milos Raonic. World No. 44 Shapovalov has been drawn into the round of 128, while 38th-ranked Raonic was given a bye into the round of 64. 

Rudi Schuller