Peter Polansky knocks off Juan Monaco at US Open in New York

Peter Polansky (Thornhill, Ontario) defeated No. 30 seed Juan Monaco of Argentina on Tuesday 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-3 in the opening round of the U.S. Open. The win marks the first
Grand Slam main draw victory of his career.

"I started to serve really well near the end," said Polansky after the match. "I knew if I played well and focused that I could do it. This means a lot. Especially beating two Top 35 guys in the past two weeks.

That’s huge for me."With the first break point opportunity of the third set for Polansky, he returned a Monaco kick serve around the net post but in for a winner. With a pumped fist to his supporters, Polansky calmly served out at-love to take a 3-1 lead. The Canadian broke Monaco again to close out the match.

After tailing 2-5 in the second set tiebreak, Polansky reeled off five straight points and took the commanding lead.

He played a nearly flawless opening first frame in front of a boisterous crowd of more than 1,000 fans on  Court No. 11 at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The 2006 US Open junior finalist converted on three-of-five break point chances in the set and six-for-nine for the match.

Polansky has rebounded to have a strong end to the summer hard court season. He defeated world No. 15 Jergen Melzer of Austria in the opening round of Rogers Cup presented by National Bank in Toronto and earned three victories to qualify for the final Grand Slam of the season in New York.

The top-ranked Canadian male singles player will next face either James Blake (United States) or Kristof Vliegen (Belgium) in the second round on Thursday. Fellow Canadian Rebecca Marino (Vancouver) will play third seeded American Venus Williams on legendary Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday afternoon (third match).