MELBOURNE, Australia | Bianca Andreescu arrived at Melbourne Park ready to impress on Sunday for this first major tournament of the season.
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Her repeated attacks with both forehand and backhand, combined with a few effective runs at the net – and even some spectacular ones – allowed the 22-year-old Ontarian to defeat the Czech Marie Bouzkova 6-2 and 6-4, in 1 hr 41 mins
The task, however, was not so simple: Bouzkova was the 25th seed of the Australian Open. And although she admits to hating to see the numbers “4” and “3” attached to her name, Andreescu is effectively 43rd in the world at the moment.
But the roles were reversed from the start of this meeting, the first of the fortnight to be played on the intimate court 3, in the shade of the imposing Rod Laver Arena.
Photo: AFP
Bianca Andreescu in action at the Adelaide tournament, which took place earlier this year.
While the stands were gradually filling up (there was a huge queue to access the site on this first day of the tournament), Andreescu increased the pace.
The former fourth in the world first offered herself a break point at 2-1, which she concretized by hammering the forehand of the 24-year-old Czech.
With his new trainer
Clearly proud of her shot, Andreescu shook her fist in the direction of her box, where her new trainer, the friendly Frenchman Christophe Lambert, with whom she has been working for almost two months, was.
A new coach, yes, but that the Canadian has known since adolescence. He was by her side when she won the prestigious 16-and-under Orange Bowl in 2014.
The Ontarian offered herself two more break points at 5-2, slipping away with the opening set.
A qualified in the 2nd round
And this time, she held on for the rest of the encounter, breaking again at the very end of the set.
A nice way to forget his recent setbacks in Auckland, where Andreescu had lost no less than 12 straight games to bow to the Russian Veronika Kudermetova, 6-4 and 6-0.
Already in good shape, Andreescu will be entitled – on paper at least – to an easier confrontation in the second round, Tuesday evening or overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, Quebec time.
She will face the Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa, 100th in the world. The two players have never faced each other before.
It’s afterwards (if there is any) that things could get tough for Bianca. A certain Polish named Iga Swiatek, big favorite of the tournament, could wait for him in the third round.