Bianca Andreescu made a triumphant return to WTA 1000-level tennis Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over McCartney Kessler of the United States in first-round action at the Madrid Open.
The 24-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., converted all four break-point chances against Kessler. The American was far less opportunistic, making just one of her eight break-point chances count.
Andreescu had three aces to just one double fault on the clay court in Madrid and won 54.6 per cent of total points.
The Canadian, who entered the tournament ranked 132nd in the world, will face world No. 11 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan in the second round. Rybakina has won both of their previous meetings.
Andreescu, a former world No. 4 and the 2019 U.S. Open champion, made her return from a six-month absence to the WTA circuit last week with a 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (2) first-round loss to Suzan Lamens in the first round of the Open de Rouen.
Her last match before that was a straight-set loss to Katie Boulter in the Tokyo quarterfinals in October before she took time off to focus on her health.
Andreescu returned from a nine-month absence due to a back injury at last year’s French Open before taking more time off between a first-round exit at the U.S. Open and her two appearances in Japan.
She has two 1000-level wins in her career, both coming in her breakout 2019 campaign in Indian Wells, Calif., and Toronto. She also advanced to the final of the 2021 Miami Open.
In Thursday’s action, 25th-seed Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., will face Ann Li of the United States.
In men’s action, 18th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal and 29th seed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., are set to play second-round matches Friday after receiving first-round byes. Their opponents are yet to be determined.
Italian teen Federico Cina advances
Italian teenager Federico Cina picked up his second ATP Masters 1000 victory by defeating Coleman Wong in straight sets.
The 18-year-old Cina won 7-6 (5), 6-1 to back up his victory over current No. 70 Francisco Comesana in Miami last month, which marked his ATP 1000 debut. He saved both break points he faced against Wong and finished with 19 winners.
“Before the match I was a little bit tight but after a few games I started to feel good,” said the 373rd-ranked Cina, a wild-card entry who will next face American Sebastian Korda. “It is really special to win a match at this event.”
Raducanu wins again on clay
Toronto-born Emma Raducanu had her first win on outdoor clay since 2022, coming from a break down in both sets to beat Suzan Lamens 7-6 (4), 6-4.
The 2021 U.S. Open champion had missed most of the 2023 clay season because of wrist and ankle surgeries. She then cut short her 2024 season on the surface after losing in her Madrid opener.
In other action in the women’s side, Americans Alycia Parks and Bernarda Pera advanced in straight sets. Pera got past Jana Fett 6-4, 6-3, while Parks overcame Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva 6-3, 6-3.
Other Wednesday results:
- Gael Monfils rallied from a poor start to defeat Borna Gojo 1-6, 6-2, 6-4, while Alexander Bublik beat Alex Michelsen 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4). Comesana got past Spaniard Pedro Martinez 6-4, 6-4 at the clay-court tournament.
- Nuno Borges of Portugal rallied to defeat home-crowd favourite Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7 (7), 7-6 (3), 6-3, while Arthur Rinderknech defeated Roman Safiullin 7-6 (4), 6-1. Christopher O’Connell got past Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-3, 6-4.
