Canadian Bianca Andreescu, struggling with right shoulder pain, withdrew in the second set of her duel against Ukrainian Lesia Tsurenko in the semi-finals of the Thailand Tennis Open on Saturday.
The Ontarian did not seem quite comfortable towards the end of the first end, she who finally let slip four consecutive games at 3-5, to lose 7-5. After his opponent took a 4-0 lead in the second set, Andreescu decided to throw in the towel.
The first seed in Hua Hin, by virtue of its 42e world rank, was no longer in the game in the second run. His powerless serve only allowed him to win just one of the eight points on the first serve.
Andreescu had had another Ukrainian, Marta Kostyuk, to reach the four aces. She had won in two totally different sets of 6-0 and 7-6 (3).
Veteran Tsurenko, 136e world racket, thus reached her first final since 2019, she who previously occupied the 23rde echelon of the WTA. She will face China’s Zhu Lin in the final match, who defeated her compatriot and doubles partner, Wang Xinyu, in the previous round.
However, Andreescu’s career should allow her to return to the top 40 of the rankings and thus once again become the best Canadian, ahead of Quebecer Leylah Fernandez (38e).
In Germany, Vasek Pospisil made short work of Czech Zdenek Kolar, winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 to reach the Koblenz Challenger final.
The 32-year-old tennis player has still not lost a set in four games, he who will play his first final in the Challenger tournament in 2023. Last year, the Canadian won the Drummondville and Quimper events in particular.
Pospisil struggled to put his first ball in play (50%), but it was still devastating. He won 91% of the points after his first serve, hitting eight aces in the process.
The British Columbian saved two break points and stole Kolar’s serve four times.
In the final, the third seed will cross swords with the winner of the duel between the Belgian Raphael Collignon (268e) and the Russian Roman Safiullin (100e).