MONTREAL — Canadian Frank Dancevic moved one step closer to a berth in the Rogers Cup main draw, defeating Marius Copil in a Saturday qualifier at Uniprix Stadium.
Dancevic, from Niagara Falls, Ont., will face American Tim Smyczek — who beat Canadian Pavel Krainik 6-0, 6-4 in his first qualifier — in the second round of qualifying on Sunday. The main draw begins Monday.
Dancevic needed one hour 16 minutes to beat his Romania opponent 7-6 (3), 6-3 on centre court.
The 33-year-old Dancevic, ranked 357th in the world, won 84 per cent of his first-serve points and was never broken by Copil, the sixth seed in the qualifying tournament.
Other Canadians didn't fare so well in their qualifying matches. Raheel Manji fell to Slovakia's Norbert Gombos, Philip Bester lost to Ireland's James McGee and Kelsey Stevenson was beat by American Reilly Opelka. Antoine Leduc lost to Britain's Brydan Klein, Israel's Dudi Sela beat Samuel Monette, Australia's Matthew Ebden downed Benjamin Sigouin and France's Vincent Millot topped Filip Peliwo.
The Canadian Press
