Andreescu downs Bouchard in all Canadian first round tilt at Rogers Cup

Teenager Bianca Andreescu defeated Eugenie Bouchard 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in an all-Canadian first-round matchup at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday night.

Andreescu, in her first match since re-aggravating a shoulder injury at the French Open in May, started slow but finished strong to take the match in two hours nine minutes under the Aviva Centre lights.

She won the deciding point when Bouchard sailed a return wide. Andreescu, who had been animated throughout the match, replied with a slight fist pump before hugging her Fed Cup teammate at the net.

Andreescu won 69 per cent of her first-service points, converted 6-of-12 break points and saved 4-of-8.

But she looked to be in trouble early on.

Bouchard, of Westmount, Que., broke Andreescu in the match’s opening game and set the tone for the first set. But Andreescu responded impressively with three breaks in second set in front of a split crowd that took turns cheering on both players on centre court.

The 19-year-old Andreescu, from nearby Mississauga, Ont., seemed ignited after dropping the opener. She broke four of Bouchard’s service games in a row over the second and third sets.

And when she ran into trouble midway through the third, double-faulting twice to give Bouchard a break and tie it 3-all, Andreescu responded by breaking right back, firing a forehand winner past Bouchard and screaming into the crowd.

Andreescu will face Daria Kasatkina in second round. Kasatkina advanced by upsetting No. 12-seeded Angelique Kerber on Monday night.

The win was Andreescu’s second against Bouchard this year. She crushed her compatriot 6-2, 6-0 en route to a tournament title in Newport Beach, Calif., in their only other career meeting.

The 27th-ranked Andreescu had a rapid rise up the rankings earlier this year after a great start to the season, highlighted by her title at a big tournament in Indian Wells, Calif.

But Andreescu had played just one match since March because of the injury to her right shoulder.

Bouchard, a former world No. 5., has slipped to No. 112 in the rankings after winning just two matches at the WTA Tour level this year. She was given a wild card into the Rogers Cup, a tournament that she’s historically not done well in.

The 25-year-old Bouchard has advanced past the second round just twice in nine main-draw appearances at the WTA Premier 5 event. Her best result was a third-round appearance in Montreal in 2016.

Earlier Tuesday, Ashleigh Barty lost 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 to American Sofia Kenin in second-round play, putting the Australian’s No. 1-ranking in peril.

Current world No. 2 Naomi Osaka of Japan would overtake Barty for the top ranking by winning her first match on Wednesday. The 21-year-old opens her Rogers Cup against Germany’s Tatjana Maria.

Kenin will play either Dayana Yastremska, who upset No. 13 seed Johanna Konta on Monday, or former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, who rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Camila Giorgi of Italy earlier Tuesday, in the third round.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams also made an early exit at the Rogers Cup. The 39-year-old American lost 6-4, 6-2 to Spain’s Carla Suarez Navarro in the first match of the day on centre court.

Suarez Navarro, ranked 26th in the world, snapped a five-match losing streak against the 56th-ranked Williams.

“She was just extra sharp,” Williams said. “I played a lot of great points but just didn’t put enough in a row. You know, play two great points and then some points not as well.

“And she just really played sharp off every shot.”

Williams has lost four matches in a row overall, including a first-rounder at Wimbledon against 15-year-old American Cori Gauff.

Suarez Navarro will face No. 16 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the second round. Kontaveit beat former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova of Russia in a three-setter on Monday.

Donna Vekic, Alison Riske, Katerina Siniakova, Shuai Zhang, Iga Swiatek and Ekaterina Alexandrova also advanced to the second round with wins Tuesday.

American star Sloane Stephens, the seventh seed at the tournament and the 2017 U.S. Open champion, faced qualifier Marie Bouzkova in the late match Tuesday.

Bouzkova advanced to the second round by beating 16-year-old Canadian wild card Leylah Annie Fernandez on Monday.

Fernandez suffered her second straight loss of the tournament Tuesday when she and doubles partner Simona Halep fell 1-6, 6-3, 10-5 to Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke on one of the smaller courts in the afternoon.

“For me it was great to play with a very young player, and she played really well today,” said Halep, the reigning Wimbledon champ.

The 26-year-old Halep said she chose to pair up with Fernandez in part because the Laval, Que., native had won the French Open girls title this year, something Halep had done herself 10 years ago.

Fernandez said she was nervous before the match, but Halep did a good job calming her down.

“I think just her presence has just motivated me a lot,” the teen said.

“I have to learn how I calmed down her, because I need to calm down myself sometimes,” Halep interjected with a laugh. “So I will take a look (at) that.”