Canadian Schnur beats Ruben Bemelmans in first qualifying match at Rogers Cup

MONTREAL – Canadian Brayden Schnur is one step closer to qualifying for the Rogers Cup men’s singles tournament after a straight-sets victory over Germany’s Ruben Bemelmans on Saturday.

The Toronto native dispatched Bemelmans 6-4, 6-3 in one hour, 19:49 minutes in qualifying action in Montreal. He will play Taiwan’s Yen-Hsun Lu in the second qualifying match on Sunday.

Other Canadians didn’t fare so well.

Toronto’s Peter Polansky lost 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) to American Rajeev Ram, firing just three aces to Ram’s 16. David Volfson fell 6-1, 6-1 to Lu, Kelsey Stevenson dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to Hyeon Chung and Isade Juneau lost 6-1, 7-5 to France’s Nicolas Mahut.

On the women’s side in Toronto, Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni topped the hometown Katherine Sebov 6-4, 6-1.

Colombia’s Mariana Duque-Marino got past Montreal’s Charlotte Robillard-Millette 6-4, 6-3, Australia’s Jarmila Gajdosova beat Toronto’s Heidi El Tabakh 6-4, 6-2 and Olga Govortsova defeated Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., 7-5, 6-0.

Slovakia’s Polona Hercog beat Canadian Natasha Irani 6-2, 6-1 while American Irina Falconi topped Toronto’s Sharon Fichman 6-3, 6-1.