Bianca Andreescu, the winner of the 2019 women’s title, along with her Canadian compatriot Carson Branstine, both secured victories on Wednesday to progress to the final stage of the U.S. Open qualifying rounds.
Hailing from Mississauga, Ont., Andreescu clinched a 6-0, 6-3 triumph against Ukraine’s Veronika Podrez in the second round of the women’s singles qualifiers. The 26-year-old Canadian managed to break her opponent five times out of 12 opportunities, setting up a match for Thursday against either Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia or Guiomar Maristany from Spain.
On the other hand, Branstine achieved a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Czechia’s Linda Fruhvirtova. The 25-year-old, who holds dual citizenship and was born in California but represents her mother’s home country, successfully converted all five of her break-point chances and recorded 22 winners compared to Fruhvirtova’s eight.
Branstine is scheduled to face Robin Montgomery from the United States on Thursday for a chance to secure one of the remaining main-draw positions. Notably, Andreescu made history at the 2019 U.S. Open by becoming the first Canadian to win a singles Grand Slam, defeating the renowned Serena Williams in the final.
In related news from Wednesday’s second-round qualifiers, Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino experienced a 6-2, 6-4 defeat against Russia’s Elena Pridankina. Meanwhile, in the men’s second-round qualifying matches, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Que., suffered a 7-6 (3), 6-2 loss to Czechia’s Dalibor Svrcina, while Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Ont., was set to play against American Andrew Johnson later in the day.