All Photo’s Mark Steffens (Fotoguy Photography)
Living on Canada’s West Coast we are fortunate to have various events, amateur or pro to attend going along with some of the best beauty Canada’s West Coast has to offer.
The second to last weekend of the summer prior to the kids going back to the class was a way for families to get out and enjoy the outdoors at various locations.
Some tell me to hit the beach, but anyone that knows me knows that I would rather be at a sporting event being able to promote sports to the area and today’s youth.
This weekend offered up a weekend of professional tennis played with an impressive group of players from various areas on display at one of the best annual events to hit Vancouver.
The best way to describe the final day for the 2022 Odlum Brown VanOpen is hot with both matches being a scorcher for not only the players, but also the sold out crowd in attendance.
Arriving early is a necessity when it comes to covering any sporting event and today was no different.
I left North Delta at 8:45 am, grabbed a coffee which won’t surprise anyone, then headed to Hollyburn to cover the Men’s and Women’s Championship.
As one might expect, it was nothing but sheer class hosted by the organizers in addition to having the young “kids” in the BC Lions orange shirts working at the base and side lines.
While everyone was focused on watching the pro’s at times it was more fun watching the interaction between the kids and the players and realistically speaking their smiles said everything.
Women’s Match
The first match of the day at noon was the Women’s Championship between Valentini Grammatikopoulou (25) of Greece and Lucia Bronzetti of Italy.
Grammatikopoulou is also the first woman from the qualifying round to make it all the way to hoisting the trophy as the women’s singles champion.
For Grammatikopoulou it is her first WTA title win of her career and following the match she mentioned “It feels very special because I came without a coach and I had a lot of support from my friends here. I enjoyed Vancouver so much that in the end, I was really relaxed playing tennis.”
She went on to say “This year (has been) really tough, I had a lot of anxiety and depression because when you don’t have results, it really affects your life and on the court as well.”
For those asking it’s not polite to give the age of any Lady
Men’s Final
The second match of the afternoon started roughly around 2ish that saw 30 year-old Constant Lestienne take on fellow countryman Arthur Rinderenech (27) in three sets by scores of 6-0. 4-6 and 6-3.
There was no question that the longer the match went on it took its toll on both players but more so Rinderknech who appeared at times to be ailing.
The win for Lestienne has ensured that he has reached the final in four of five tournaments since playing at Wimbledon in June.
He now has the most match wins on the ATP Challenger Tour with a 38-16 record, which includes coming out on top in 19 of his last 21 matches he has played.
The day was extra special as Sportswave was able to secure the services of Mark Steffens (Fotoguy Photography) for a full day of professional tennis.
The event was extremely professionally run as they all have and for those who missed out on this year, book early for the 2023 Odlum Brown VanOpen as tickets are likely to go fast.
The event is made a success by the beauty and view of the Hollyburn Country Club which overlooks the City of Vancouver.
If you have a sport you would like covered on the site or by doing a “live webcast” for your sporting community, contact us at [email protected] and we’ll get back to you.
Promoting sports and mostly amateur sports is our not only focus but passion.
Regardless of where you live get out and explore what tennis has to offer – you never know who might be the next pro from small town Canada.
Special thanks to media person Brian Wiebe for his assistance over the week.
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