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 a strong return to Melbourne Park 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.
Meanwhile, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., battled for more than two hours to defeat Dusan Lajovic of Belgrade, Serbia 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the second round.
Shapovalov cruised through the first set, then struggled in the second set and half of the third before finding his groove and finishing off the resilient Lajovic.
Shapovalov had 38 service winners, 16 aces and seven double faults in the two-hour, 20-minute match. He had 23 winners on his forehand, 11 on his backhand had 30 unforced errors compared to Lajovic’s 22.
Later Sunday, Rebecca Marino of Vancouver faces Zhu Lin of China, while Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal plays Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver in the late game.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2023.
