(New York) 2019 New York champion Bianca Andreescu was defeated in the third round at Flushing Meadows on Friday, losing 6-3, 6-2 to France’s Caroline Garcia.
Posted at 6:11 p.m.
Updated at 9:41 p.m.
The Canadian was smashed five times in a row, against a rival with often deeper and more biting strikes. The last of those breaks gave Garcia a 4-1 lead in the second set.
A thrilling sixth game followed where the Ontarian scored the first two points then missed a volley, only to score one with great brilliance. This was followed in order by an ace from Garcia, a double fault and another ace, before a decisive volley for Garcia.
Andreescu saved two match points in the seventh game.
Back on serve, Garcia made the win on her third opportunity: she delivered an outgoing serve that was sent too far. Garcia was thus able to reach the fourth round, after a struggle of one hour and 28 minutes.
Seeded number 17, Garcia outshot 8-2 for aces and 31-11 for winners.
In the fourth round, she will face Alison Riske-Amritraj, 29e first in the series. Andreescu is ranked 48e at the WTA.
Garcia triumphed in Cincinnati in August as a qualifier. She and the Mississauga athlete had crossed swords only once — earlier in 2022 in Bad Homburg, where Garcia won in three sets in the final.
Earlier Friday, Rebecca Marino of Vancouver was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by China’s Zhang Shuai.
PHOTO GEOFF BURKE, USA TODAY SPORTS
Rebecca Marino
Zhang won the last five games of the first set, including a break at zero to lead 5-2. Leading 2-0 in the second set, she then cruised to victory in 63 minutes.
Zhang had three breaks in eight occasions and did not give the British Columbian a similar ball. Her next rival will be American Coco Gauff, who beat compatriot Madison Keys 6-2, 6-3.
Seeded number 12, Gauff was broken in the first game, before performing the same trick on Keys in the next game. She took a 4-1 lead and was left unchallenged.
Marino had not played in the third round of a major tournament since 2011, at Roland-Garros.
Zhang is 36e in the world, 70 places ahead of Marino.
Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico, seeded fifth in doubles, won 6-1, 6-4 over Americans Whitney Osuigwe and Hailey Baptiste.