SAN DIEGO — If Bianca Andreescu needed a spark to ignite her return to the top of the women’s tennis rankings, she may have found it late Monday night when she knocked out Russian Liudmila Samsonova at the San Diego Open.
The 22-year-old Canadian stunned Samsonova, 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-2 in the first round of the tournament, after a marathon 2h38 match.
The 23-year-old Samsonova is currently No. 23 in the WTA rankings and is coming off three WTA titles in two months. She was one of the headliners at the competition, the first held in San Diego since 2015, but she had her hands full with the 57th racket in the world.
While Samsonova had more aces than Andreescu (10 to three), the Ontarian had more success on her first serves and breaks.
Andreescu will play in the round of 16 on Wednesday, facing the winner of the duel between Montreal’s Leylah Fernandez and eighth seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia.
In doubles, Ontario’s Carol Zhao and British Columbia’s Rebecca Marino will face Sofia Kenin and Samsonova in the round of 16.
The second pair of Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Mexico’s Giuliana Olmos will face Americans Sabrina Santamaria and Kaitlyn Christian.
