(Granby) Few things separate Alexis Galarneau from staying on the ATP circuit. A few victories, a few titles and maybe even a bit of luck could allow him to break into the top 100 before long. If his triumph in Granby on Sunday is any omen for the rest of the season, the Quebecer is certainly on the right track.

Met a few hours before his first game at the National Bank Championships in Granby last week, the seventh seed of the tournament was eager to get back to action. Galarneau had arrived four days earlier, in the middle of a storm, from Chicago.

The sun was shining and the Heineken parasol under which the conversation took place, overlooking a table in the players’ area, was very convenient.

At that time, the 24-year-old athlete did not know how much he was going to thrill the Estrie crowd. In his first appearance in four years at this Challenger, he snatched the title on Sunday in a spectacular and impressive way. All week he was on a mission. Truth be told, his goal was humbly to liven up the show and provide quality tennis to already satisfied fans. And he ended the week with the most significant title of his career in his pocket.

“It makes a big difference,” he said of playing in Quebec. “There are a few more distractions, which aren’t necessarily negative, but it takes a little more energy. In the end, you have to use this energy during the matches. If you can use this energy well, you will really have an advantage at home. »

This victory in Granby is part of a season in which Galarneau sees a lot of action. It was his 15th tournament in 2023 on the Challenger circuit. In January, he also played in Australian Open qualifying. Almost every week, he takes part in an event. It therefore improves his chances of progressing.

“I try to play a lot of tournaments, because at the start of the season I couldn’t play that much. So you have to stay in the rhythm, in the routine, and besides, I like it,” he said, taking off his long-sleeved shirt covering his polo shirt.

Due to an injury that afflicted him last winter, Galarneau feels he needs to play more. “I have some catching up to do in terms of tournaments. Especially since I like to play hard outdoors, so I like to enjoy it as much as possible. »

It is enough to evoke his match on the center court of the IGA stadium in Montreal last summer against Grigor Dimitrov to see a smile reflecting pride and nostalgia on the face of the Laval resident. This experience, along with the Davis Cup title, gave him a brief taste of the life he had been dreaming of for a long time.

“I never imagined that I would come to times like this so quickly in my career. »

And it will have been expensive, he believes. “At the beginning of the year, maybe I wanted to move too fast without necessarily working on the shortcomings. It’s a mix of ambitions and expectations of myself, and you have to balance it out. »

Concretely, “I may have pushed for the top 100 too quickly thinking that I didn’t have too many points to defend,” he admits.

Galarneau says he doesn’t think too much about Toronto, where the men’s National Bank Open will be held this year. He wants to “stay in the moment”, but also build on the past. “If I take the last two months, I see good progress,” he says.

He changed his approach and tactics, going up to the net more and favoring a more aggressive style. “You see it with all the players on the circuit. [Carlos] Alcaraz, Félix [Auger-Aliassime] and the others come to finish at the net. »

In the end, it will have served him well in Granby. Where he was eager to play and where he triumphed. For the first time in his career, he will join the top 200. And this is probably only the beginning of the adventure.

Quebecers Alexis Galarneau and Gabriel Diallo, as well as Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil, have received their passes for the main draw of the men’s portion of the National Bank Open, Tennis Canada announced on Monday. They will join their compatriots Félix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Milos Raonic, who had already confirmed their presence in the main draw of the tournament which will take place from August 5 to 13 at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto.