In an exciting opening round at the Italian Open WTA 1000 tennis tournament, Canadian stars Bianca Andreescu and Victoria Mboko impressively triumphed over their Italian opponents on Wednesday.
Toronto’s Mboko showcased her talent with a decisive 6-2, 6-3 victory against Italy’s Arianna Zucchini.
Having advanced to her second 1000-series event through qualifying, Mboko skillfully converted six break points. Her remarkable agility was on display as she and Zucchini exchanged breaks during an exciting final stretch of the second set.
Ranking 158th globally, Mboko boasts a stellar 33-3 record this season, claiming five titles on the ITF circuit.
Next, she prepares to challenge the fourth seed, Coco Gauff from the USA, in the second round.
Mississauga’s Andreescu, challenged by Italy’s Federica Urgesi, powered through to a 6-0, 6-3 victory, winning an impressive 97.1% of her first service points without facing a single break point in the dominant first set.
Andreescu swiftly gained a 5-1 lead in the second set, with Urgesi attempting a comeback by holding serve and breaking back. However, Andreescu sealed her victory, converting six of ten break-point opportunities.
She will meet Croatia’s 20th-seed Donna Vekic in the next round, who previously edged out Andreescu at last year’s Paris Olympics on clay.
Andreescu, a former world No. 4 and the 2019 U.S. Open champion, returned to the WTA circuit earlier this year after a six-month hiatus, beginning her journey at the Open de Rouen and now standing at 2-3 for the season, with her other win at the Madrid Open WTA 1000 event.
Meanwhile, fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez from Laval, Que., is seeded 24th and received a first-round bye.
On the men’s side, Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriel Diallo, along with Denis Shapovalov from Richmond Hill, Ont., are set to compete.
Diallo is gearing up for his first-round encounter against American Marcos Giron on Thursday, while Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov enjoy byes in the opening round.
