Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open women’s champion, and her Canadian counterpart, Carson Branstine, both secured victories on Wednesday to progress to the final stage of the U.S. Open qualifying rounds.
Andreescu, hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, triumphed with a 6-0, 6-3 win against Veronika Podrez from Ukraine in the second round of the women’s singles qualifying event. The 26-year-old Canadian managed to break her opponent’s serve five times out of 12 opportunities, setting up a match for Thursday against either Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia or Guiomar Maristany from Spain.
On the other hand, Branstine achieved a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Linda Fruhvirtova from Czechia. The 25-year-old athlete, holding dual citizenship and representing her mother’s homeland, converted all five of her break-point opportunities and hit 22 winners compared to Fruhvirtova’s eight. Branstine’s next challenge will be against Robin Montgomery from the United States with a chance to secure one of the remaining main-draw berths.
In a notable career milestone, Andreescu made history in 2019 by becoming the first Canadian to win a singles Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open, defeating the renowned Serena Williams in the final.
In other matches on Wednesday, Vancouver’s seasoned player Rebecca Marino suffered a 6-2, 6-4 defeat against Russia’s Elena Pridankina in the second round of qualifying. Meanwhile, in the men’s second-round qualifying matches, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Quebec, fell short with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 loss to Dalibor Svrcina from Czechia, while Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Ontario, faced off against American Andrew Johnson later in the day.