Peruvian World No.10 Diego Elias avoided a shock first round exit at the 2018 Canada Cup after coming from back from two games down to beat tournament wildcard Michael McCue in a gripping encounter in Toronto.
Elias, the 21-year-old from Lima, has struggled with a hamstring injury over the past few months and fell to last 16 defeats in each of his last two tournament appearances at the J.P Morgan Tournament of Champions and Suburban Collection Motor City Open.
An early exit was nearly on the cards for Elias in Toronto as he fell to narrow defeats to World No.103 McCue in the opening two games. But McCue couldn’t hold on to claim the win on home soil as Elias came back at him and the two-time World Junior Champion overturned the deficit to claim an 8-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 victory.
Qatari number seven seed Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi awaits Elias in the quarter-finals after he disposed of American qualifier Christopher Gordon in a straight games victory.
New Zealand’s Campbell Grayson, fresh from upsetting Elias at the Motor City Open two weeks ago, sent fourth seed Leo Au out after an assured 3-0 win and his reward is a last eight match-up with Scotland’s Alan Clyne, who came out on top against Malaysia’s Ivan Yuen, taking a crucial fourth game 15-13 on the tie-break to seal the win.
Meanwhile, second seed Ryan Cuskelly booked his quarter-final berth courtesy of a 3-0 win over World No.76 Chris Hanson and the Australian will take on Mexico’s Arturo Salazar for a place in the next round after he fought back from 2-1 down to overcome number eight seed Adrian Waller.
Salazar’s twin brother, number three seed Cesar, was also victorious on day one as he defeated Canadian Shawn Delierre to set up a meeting with Hong Kong’s Max Lee in the quarter-finals.
Results – First Round: 2018 Canada Cup
[1] Diego Elias (PER) bt [WC] Michael McCue (CAN) 3-2: 8-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4 (71m)
[7] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT) bt [Q] Christopher Gordon (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-8, 11-7 (46m)
[6] Max Lee (HKG) bt [Q] David Baillargeon (CAN) 3-1: 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6 (54m)
[3] Cesar Salazar (MEX) bt [Q] Shawn Delierre (CAN) 3-0: 11-5, 11-6, 11-5 (39m)
Campbell Grayson (NZL) bt [4] Leo Au (HKG) 3-0: 11-6, 11-9, 14-12 (57m)
[5] Alan Clyne (SCO) bt Ivan Yuen (MAS) 3-1: 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 15-13 (69m)
Arturo Salazar (MEX) bt [8] Adrian Waller (ENG) 3-2: 12-10, 2-11, 8-11, 13-11, 11-8
[2] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS) bt [Q] Chris Hanson (USA) 3-0: 11-6, 11-3, 11-3
Draw – Quarter-Finals
[1] Diego Elias (PER) v [7] Abdulla Mohd Al Tamimi (QAT)
[6] Max Lee (HKG) v [3] Cesar Salazar (MEX)
Campbell Grayson (NZL) v [5] Alan Clyne (SCO)
Arturo Salazar (MEX) v [2] Ryan Cuskelly (AUS)
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