The setting was dramatic and so was the stakes. With a loss for each Canadian team the day before, the local favorites had almost no room for error, Friday, during the last day of the group phase of the Elite16 tournament of the Beach Pro Tour presented at Parc Jean-Drapeau. Neither the rain, nor the wind, nor the thunderstorms could spoil the show, while two of the three teams survived the ax.
Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson were greeted as returning soldiers after their second meeting of the day near the mixed media zone. Thanks to this win in two sets against the Swiss Esmée Böbner and Zoé Vergé-Dépré, the Canadian duo confirmed their place in the next round.
“Thank you for staying,” Humana-Paredes shouted, forming a megaphone with his hands.
“You guys are the best,” Wilkerson added, waving to the audience with both hands.
If the two players were so delighted to see all these amazed faces, it was because the bad weather had forced the officials to suspend their match for around 40 minutes after the first set won 21-13 by the favorites.
When it resumed at 10:15 p.m., at least half of the spectators had left center court. At least the bravest were able to witness a flawless demonstration.
While the scene was reminiscent of the original Blade Runner movie, the rain was so thick it blurred the horizon. With the difference that this kind of moment was not going to be forgotten like tears in the rain. And this time, Ridley Scott had nothing to do with it.
“You had to understand that we were entering a whole new game. Circumstances were different and you almost had to start from scratch,” Wilkerson said, still a little out of breath.
Much like their first meeting of the day, against Australia’s Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy, Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson showed why they should be taken seriously.
“We’re not necessarily looking for perfection,” Humana-Paredes said at the end of that meeting, but they came pretty close. And this in both parts of the day.
It is impossible to beat the fourth ranked team in the world, Olympic silver medalists, moreover, by playing in a rough way.
“It’s an amazing day for us. We were able to beat two excellent teams. Another tournament starts tomorrow and we’re ready for it. It’s still nice to finish after 10 p.m., Humana-Paredes admitted, looking at the phone while recording his answer, but it’s been a long day. We hope not to play too early tomorrow! »
This Saturday, therefore, will begin the qualifications for the eliminatory phase. Only the first in the classification of each group ensured a place in the quarter-finals.
Sarah Pavan arrived soaked near the reporters, and her non-verbal response was “I told you so”.
The Canadian duo lost their first match to Americans Julia Scoles and Betsi Flint in straight sets. Their last duel of the day, against Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil, would determine which of the two teams would advance to the next stage of the tournament.
The Canadians, carried by a wet but dynamic crowd, were sharp, especially in the second set. They had the answer to everything. They got away with the win, because Pavan told us.
“We knew we had to win to survive,” she said after her day’s work. And I think we are playing better and better as the tournament progresses. I am very proud of us and especially of the way we fought. »
Her teammate, Molly McBain, noted a difference between their performances on Thursday and Friday: “It’s night and day between yesterday and today, because we were able to adjust. »
Solid in defense, McBain played with more confidence than the day before. His partner, 11 years his senior, also seemed more comfortable and less taken aback on the sands of Île Sainte-Hélène: “We felt the pace change and we stayed focused to stay in control. »
The men’s pair, for their part, was the only Canadian team to pack up after the third day of competition.
“In training it’s a matter of centimetres, here it’s a matter of inches,” admitted Dan Dearing after his three-set loss with partner Sam Schachter to Qataris Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan.
They also played better than the day before. They were in all the fights, but their rivals got everything. With their athleticism and dexterity at the net, the Qataris, fourth in the standings, got the better of the local favorites.
“We never give up, that’s our saying. We know that we can score several points in a row against the best teams and we confirmed that today,” said Sam Schachter.
The first defeat of the day, against Pedro Solberg and Gustavo Carvalhaes, however, was harder to swallow. Indeed, as the Brazilians came from the qualifications, the Canadians were favorites to win this duel.
They finally escaped it in two hotly contested rounds.
“We have identified some weaknesses this week that we can work on. There’s a lot of work to do, but we’re ready,” Schachter concluded.
