Bianca Andreescu, of Canada, returns a volley from Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, in the first set of a match at the Miami Open tennis tournament, Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Miami Gardens, Fla. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jim Rassol
MIAMI – Canada’s Bianca Andreescu won a matchup of former U.S. Open champions and moved on to the second round of the Miami Open tennis tournament with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over Britain’s Emma Raducanu on Wednesday,
Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., improved to 2-0 against Raducanu. She had seven aces to Raducanu’s two and won 67.2 per cent of first serve points.
The Canadian, who won the U.S. Open in 2019, faced 12 break points, but defended all but one. She broke Raducanu three times on 11 chances.
Raducanu, who came into the tournament ranked 72nd in the world, won the U.S. Open in 2021 when she defeated Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., in the final.
Andreescu, ranked No. 31 in the world, improved to 7-6 on the season as she looks to progress past the second round of a tournament for just the second time this year.
She will next face seventh seed Maria Sakkari of Greece. Andreescu beat Sakkari in the semifinals of the 2021 Miami Open before retiring in the final against Ash Barty.
Sakkari won the second meeting between the players later that year in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
Andreescu joined fellow Canadians Rebecca Marino and Katherine Sebov, who won their opening matches Tuesday in the second round of the women’s singles draw.
Fernandez looked to become the fourth Canadian to advance when she faced Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko later Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 23, 2023.
