After a frustrating 2016 season, Vasek Pospisil is back to producing the high level of tennis he’s capable of.
Competing at this week’s $100,000 ATP Challenger Tour event in San Francisco, California, the seventh seed battled past #NextGenATP star Reilly Opelka to move into a quarter-final showdown against another American #NextGenATP star in top seed Frances Tiafoe. Pospisil has left the crowd in awe this week with his court coverage and winners from impossible positions.
“I haven’t played too many Challengers lately, but the crowd here is great and the stadium court is really nice,” said Pospisil. “It’s a cool atmosphere and the organisation has been fantastic. Coming from ATP World Tour and Masters 1000 events, it still feels very comfortable here. “
Pospisil is coming off a weekend of outstanding tennis in Canada’s home Davis Cup tie in Ottawa against Great Britain. The Canadian fought through a knee injury to record Top 50 wins over Kyle Edmund and Daniel Evans.
“I was struggling mentally and physically the first match here,” admitted Pospisil. “I’m still feeling the effects because it’s very emotional playing three best-of-five set matches in a weekend. I’m not as fresh as I’d like to be, but it’s also nice to have confidence from getting good wins under your belt.“
The week in Ottawa was also another chance to offer guidance to Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov. The 26 year old has unofficially taken the rising star under his wing and said he’s simply paying it forward from when other ATP World Tour players did the same for him.
“I really like Denis a lot and we have a great friendship,” said Pospisil. “I’m definitely trying to help him out because I know what it’s like being young and up-and-coming. I really valued having advice from guys who had been on tour for a few years. I’m almost 10 years older than him and he’s a great kid, so anytime young guys like that are coming up, I’m more than happy to help anytime.”
Currently No. 131, Pospisil is eager to get his Emirates ATP Ranking back into more familiar territory. He spent the off-season in Southern California with his new coach, 12-time Grand Slam men’s doubles champion Mark Woodforde. The pair worked on several aspects of his game, including “my return and being more aggressive and coming into the net”, which he believes will serve him well in 2017.
“This past season was difficult, but I had been consistently ranked between 25 and 50 for the previous four years, so I want to achieve that and go even higher by getting into the Top 20. Mark is a great guy to try and help me with that,” said Pospisil. “I’ve played at that level on several occasions, so now it’s just a matter of doing it consistently.”