Canadian tennis fans had plenty to cheer for on Sunday as they were guaranteed a home champion at the ITF M25 event in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Quebec. Liam Draxl was the one lifting the trophy at the end, having beaten Alexis Galarneau in an all-Canadian final in straight sets.
It was a memorable week for Draxl, who entered the event as the tournament’s No. 1 seed. The current world No. 236 won all of his matches in straight sets, none of them being particularly close. His most tightly-contested match was a 6-3, 6-3 victory in the second round against American Strong Kirchheimer.
With the win in Saint-Augustin, Draxl now has six titles on the season – two in singles and four in doubles. It also marks his fourth tournament win on home soil since the beginning of his professional career. He was also victorious last month in Edmonton.
In Sunday’s final, Draxl got the better of fellow Canadian Galarneau, who accepted a wild card to take part in the event in his home province. The Newmarket native got off to an excellent start right out of the gate, as he had done all week, winning the first set 6-1 in just over half an hour. Draxl carried that momentum into the second set, breaking Galarneau early on before clinching the win on his first match point in the ninth game. This was the first meeting on the professional circuit between the two young Canucks.
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Saint-Augustin’s all-Canadian final added to a huge weekend for Canada’s pros as Draxl’s victory was one of five across all levels of the tours this weekend, including Gabriela Dabrowski’s historic victory at the WTA Finals, Denis Shapovalov’s win in Belgrade, a career-best result for Rebecca Marino in Michigan, and another ITF title for Kayla Cross in Miami.
13 Canadians were competing in the singles overall. Four reached the quarter-finals: Draxl, Galarneau, Jaden Weekes, and Juan Carlos Aguilar, who lost to the eventual champion Draxl.
In the doubles draw, second seeds Filip Duda and David Poljak of Czechia narrowly beat the unseeded American duo of Alfredo Perez and Jamie Vance 6-4, 6-7(4), 11-9. This was their second title as a team.
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Draxl also reached the semifinals of the doubles, partnering with American Boris Kozlov. They lost to the eventual champions Duda and Poljak 10-8 in the match tiebreak. An all-Canadian pair, Benjamin George and Alvin Tudorica, also reached the semifinals, losing in straight sets to the Americans.
Aguilar and Justin Boulais reached the quarter-finals, losing to Draxl and Kozlov.
There is one last professional event on the 2024 calendar taking place in Canada this week, the Challenger Banque Nationale de Drummondville in Quebec.