In an exciting showdown at the Italian Open, Canada’s Bianca Andreescu triumphed over Sofia Kenin of the United States, clinching a hard-fought 6-7, 7-5 victory to advance to the second round on Tuesday.
Demonstrating her competitive spirit, Andreescu seized five out of six break-point opportunities and delivered five aces during the match, which lasted one hour and 46 minutes.
Although Kenin had her chances with six break points, she managed to convert only three, bringing her head-to-head record against Andreescu to 2-5.
In their last encounter, Kenin took the win in the second round of the Charleston Open just a month ago.
Next up for Andreescu, who is 25 years old, is a clash with the 12th seed Belinda Bencic from Switzerland in the WTA 1000 clay-court tournament. The duo has each secured a victory in their prior two meetings.
From Mississauga, Ontario, the former world No. 4 is currently ranked 137th on the WTA Tour, following a challenging few years marred by injuries. With this latest victory, she improves her season record to 21-8, primarily accumulating wins in the lower-tier WTA 125 and World Tennis Tour events.
