If a photo is worth more than a thousand words, the smile on the face of Vasek Pospisil was worth a million in Montreal twelve years ago. The Canadian had just defeated Top 10-star Tomas Berdych in a tight last set of Tie-Break in the third round of his home ATP Masters 1000 event and not only seemed ecstatic, but in disbelief.
“I don’t really know what’s going on,” said Pospisil at the time. “At the moment it is okay. It was pretty emotional, I mean, only the hard work I did. To have my first top -10 victory here, for that crowd, was extremely emotional. I had trouble control it.”
It is appropriate that more than a decade after announcing his arrival at the ATP tour with a semi-final run at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers, Postpisil brought his career at the same tournament on Sunday in Toronto, when he fell in Facundo Bagnis for the front of an admiring audience.
It was a special celebration of the 35-year-old career for his home fans, another chance for the Canadian to perform for his family, friends and fans.
“It’s just [been] An incredible journey. I am so grateful, to be honest, [for] The career I have had, the opportunities that the sport gave me, the people I have met on the way who are friends for life, “said Pospisil during a ceremony after the game.” Coming from a small town in BC, it felt like a bit of a pipe dream and it just felt like a completely different world. One leads to the other and you start to improve and play a number of small tournaments, larger tournaments and suddenly you are here.
“It is easy to lose perspective that this is really a dream come true for me.”
Postpisil played in qualifying during an event at Tour level here in Toronto in 2008 as an 18-year-old and has since created many memories in his career. In 2014 he won his first title at Tour level in Wimbledon next to Jack Sock, and in 2022 he helped Canada to Davis Cup Glory after more than a decade to compete for his country.
“Thirdly, I would say my breakthrough event in Montreal at the Masters,” said Pospisil on Saturday during his press conference before the tournament. “That was just such a crazy emotional week for me and as I said, it was my breakthrough. That was my first real big result on the big stage and when you do something like that for the first time, it will stay a little longer with you. There are more emotions involved in such a moment.”
Former Doubles World No. 1 Daniel Nestor saw Pospisil grow during his career, from an emerging junior to someone who shared the court with him during some of the world’s greatest events. They even reached the Bronze-Medal match together at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.
“I remember that he first came to our Davis Cup team when he was 16, 17 and he was a bit green and he was just so excited to be there, always had a really great attitude,” Nestor said. “I saw him going to wear Canada to the world group against Israel, which I think was his coming moment and when the entire draw in fact won …
“I consider him the best all-round player of Canada because he was successful in Singles, top 30. In Doubles he came to the top 5 and won Wimbledon. It was impressive.”
Former world no. 65 and the current Canadian Davis Cup captain Frank Dancevic, who coached Pospisil for three years, said: “We have known each other for a long time. I remember that Vasek came as a junior when he was 18 years old and you could see that there was a lot of potential in his game, but of course you were never a surprise of anyone who was looking for anyone.
“We started as friends when he first came to the Davis Cup team [and came onto the] Tour and we’ve stayed friends ever since. I had the pleasure of working with him for a few years in 2019, ’20 and ’21. It was a great experience for both of us and it is just a great career to be proud of. ”
The last match of Postpisil, Sunday evening, was emotional because it was his last time he competed on the ATP tour, but it was also a celebration of the career of the Canadian. Now the 35-year-old will step in his next chapter.
“I think I am set up pretty well for everything I do after tennis. I think the number one is that you must be passionate about what you do and if you are not, then it really feels like work and it can be very tiring and you can wear out,” said Pospisil. “But if you are passionate about what you do, it will give you energy and I think it gives you the opportunity to excel in whatever you want to do.
“I will make sure that after tennis that I am passionate about it. That is number one. I feel happy that I have the opportunity to make those choices.”
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