<p>Canada's Alexis Galarneau serves to Australia's Rinky Hijikata during their qualifying match for the National Bank Open tennis tournament, Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024 in Montreal. Hijikata won the match in three sets. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</p>
January 07, 2025 - 12:04 AM
MELBOURNE, Australia - Alexis Galarneau was one game away from pulling off a major upset Monday night in the Australian Open qualifying tournament, but 28th-seeded Lukas Klein of Slovakia spoiled the Canadian's thunder Down Under.
After losing the opening set of the best-of-three match 6-4, the 25-year-old from Laval, Que., bounced back with a 6-3 win to force a third and deciding set.
Galarneau, who was five inches smaller and 69 ATP ranking spots below the six-foot-three Klein, was serving for the match at 5-4, but ran out of miracles and dropped the next three games to lose 7-5. The match took one hour 58 minutes to play.
Klein finished with six aces, four double faults, 37 receiving points won and 13 service games won, compared to Galarneau who had two aces, two double faults, 31 receiving points won and 13 service games won.
Klein will now play Eliot Spizzirri of Stamford, Conn., who outlasted Alexander Blockx of Belgium 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 earlier on Monday.
Players need to record three consecutive wins to claim one of the 16 remaining spots in the Australian Open's main draw, which gets underway Sunday at Melbourne Park.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 6, 2025.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2025