Canada's Bianca Andreescu returns to Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina in a women's singles match on day five of the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Friday, July 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Kin Cheung
LONDON – Canada’s Bianca Andreescu and Denis Shapovalov earned hard-fought singles victories Friday to advance at Wimbledon.
Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., outlasted 26th-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7) in a second-round match that featured several momentum swings.
Later in the day, Shapovalov dropped the opening set against British wild-card entry Liam Broady before rebounding for a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 victory.
The Canadian had a 14-1 edge in aces. He had 50 winners overall while Broady managed just 18.
Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., will face Roman Safiullin in the fourth round. The 92nd-ranked Russian beat Argentina’s Guido Pella 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-0.
Andreescu, meanwhile, looked like she was heading for a routine victory after winning the first set and going up a break early in the second.
However, Kalinina later broke back to even the second set at 4-4, and picked up another break in the deciding game to even the match.
The Ukrainian had a break and a hold to go up 5-2 in the third set, but Andreescu stormed back to force a tiebreaker.
Andreescu raced out to a 9-3 lead, but Kalinina saved four match points before the Canadian finally prevailed.
Andreescu will next face sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, who dispatched Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan 6-1, 6-1 in just 45 minutes.
Also Friday, the sixth-seeded women’s doubles team of Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and American Taylor Townsend opened with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Alycia Parks and Peyton Stearns of the United States.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2023.
