Bianca Andreescu pumps her fist.

Photo : Martin Sidorjak

Bianca Andreescu had to wait four days to get her Wimbledon campaign underway, but her wait was worth it as the Canadian fought into the second round of The Championships with a three-set win over Anna Bondar.

By a weird twist of scheduling, she became the second Canadian woman into the second round of Wimbledon, but is also the last one standing after Leylah Fernandez lost a thriller to Caroline Garcia for the second time this year at a major in her second-round match on Thursday. Rebecca Marino lost her first-round match which, like Andreescu, had initially been delayed multiple times.

Andreescu had initially been scheduled to play her match on Tuesday but multiple rain delays pushed the start back to Thursday. It was a largely even affair but as she often does, the Canadian found her best tennis late to pull out a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win.

The margins were razor thin as their numbers were nearly identical. Bondar had two more winners 28 to 26, while Andreescu had one less unforced error 31 to 32. In the end, the Canadian won just one more point.

Read also: Carol Zhao Falls Just Short in Grand Slam Debut

However, the big difference was break points, as Andreescu converted four of her six opportunities, while she saved 12 of 14 on her own serve.

It was a quick start for the Canadian, as she took advantage of a loose game from Bondar to break in the opening game. That one break ended up being enough for Andreescu as she saved the only two break points she faced in the set before adding another break for good measure to wrap up the opening set.

Bondar came out firing to start the second set, applying constant pressure to the Canadian’s serve. Andreescu had to save break points in each of her first two service games before finally caving at 3-3 to fall behind. The Hungarian then returned the favour by breaking again to wrap up the set.

Despite losing four straight games to drop the second set, Andreescu was able to quickly right the ship, breaking serve twice in a four-game run of her own to start the deciding set.

Read also: Raonic Makes Winning Return to Wimbledon

Two breaks ultimately proved too big a hill for the Hungarian to climb as Andreescu denied every break point that came her way in the third set. The Canadian served out the win in just under two hours.

Andreescu will meet No. 26 seed Anhelina Kalinina in the second round.

Déjà-vu for Fernandez Against Garcia

For the second time in three majors this year, Leylah Fernandez bowed out in round two at the hands of Caroline Garcia.

The second-round Wimbledon clash was even tighter than their battle at the Australian Open, as it came right down to the wire in a third-set tiebreak. But when the pressure was on, Garcia’s veteran experience paid off as she hung on for a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) win.

Fernandez found herself on the opposite side of a similar stat line to Andreescu’s match, as Garcia won just one more point in the match. The Frenchwoman had more winners 35 to 31 but Fernandez had far fewer errors 23 to 34. In fact, the Canadian broke serve twice while only dropping serve once.

Looking to seize control early, Fernandez took it right to Garcia from the start of the opening set. She had a pair of break points in the third game before firing a forehand winner to take the break in the seventh.

The Canadian had to save a break point as she served to consolidate, but drew an error and then broke again to wrap up the set.

Read also: Shapovalov Cruises Into Round Three

Both women had chances to break in their first return game of the second set before Garcia broke through for a 2-1 lead. Service games continued to be a challenge for both women, but neither was able to break again as the Frenchwoman hung on to level the match.

Garcia had an opening to take control of the match at 2-2 in the decider when she had two break points on the Canadian’s serve, but Fernandez stepped up, saving the first with a winner and drawing an error on the second to escape.

Those were the only break points in the third set, which required a 10-point tiebreak to decide it.

After a set largely dominated by the servers, the first six points of the breaker were won by the returners before Garcia fired an ace coming out of the first change of ends.

A return winner by the Frenchwoman gave her a 5-3 lead that ultimately she never relinquished. Fernandez continued to struggle to win points on her own serve as Garcia hung on to take the tiebreak 10-6.

Marino Bounced by Begu

Rebecca Marino’s solid grass season came to a disappointing end as she lost her first-round match at the All-England Club to 29th-seed Irina-Camelia Begu.

The match needed two days to complete, having started late on Wednesday evening. Marino struggled to find consistency on the lawns of Wimbledon and could not keep up her momentum coming out of the delay as she fell 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Read also: Canada’s Rich History of Doubles Success Continues

Errors were very costly for the Canadian as she handed 45 free points to her opponent while only hitting 19 winners, four fewer than Begu. Marino’s serve was not at its best, as she only put 53 per cent of first serves in play and won just 30 per cent of her second serve points.

Racing against the clock as the match start with only about an hour of sunlight left, Marino had a chance to get off the mark quickly when she held a pair of break points for a 2-0 lead, but was unable to convert.

Instead it was Begu grabbing the early lead when Marino double-faulted on break point in the following game. The Canadian was having trouble finding consistency with her groundstrokes and gave away a second break in the fifth game as the Romanian raced through the first set.

Read also: England’s Most Famous Pineapple

It seemed there was a chance that Begu could wrap up the match before sundown when she had a chance to break in the third game of the second set, but Marino was starting to find her range and drew an error to erase the threat. She then bullied the Romanian into some error in the following game to grab a break of her own.

With no quick end in sight, the match was suspended with the Canadian leading 4-2 in the second set.

When play resumed on Thursday morning, Marino got the two holds she needed to send the match to a deciding set.

Read also: Wimbledon Gets Rolling

Marino seemed to have taken full advantage of the delay when she broke for a 2-1 lead in the third set, but falling behind seemed to wake Begu up.

Another double fault allowed the Romanian to break back which kicked off a run of five games, including three breaks, as Begu seemed to hit winners at will to wrap up the victory.

Leylah Fernandez will play her second-round match later on Thursday.

Tags
Popular reads