Bianca Andreescu of Canada plays a backhand return to Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
MELBOURNE, Australia – Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., who missed last year’s Australian Open, made her presence felt on Sunday with a straight-set win over No. 25-ranked Marie Bouzkova of Czechia 6-2,6-4.
Andreescu, who took one hour, 41 minutes to eliminate the 24-year-old player from Prague, had 23 service winners and only committed eight unforced errors, compared to Bouzkova’s 17.
Andreescu had two aces, two double faults and was good on 87 per cent of her first serves. She had 12 forehand winners and three on her backhand.
Canadian Denis Shapovalov is on court now playing Dusan Lajovic of Serbia, while Rebecca Marino of Vancouver faces Zhu Lin of China later tonight.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2023.
