Canada's Bianca Andreescu crashes out of Canadian Open in return from Olympics
Top-ranked Canadian, Leylah Fernandez plays round of 64 on Wednesday night
Bianca Andreescu is out of the National Bank Open.
The Canadian fell 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko in first-round action Tuesday — a bitterly disappointing result following a bright start as she continues to work her way back following a 10-month injury absence.
An aggressive Andreescu was shot out of a cannon in the first set, opening with a strong forehand down the line before firing three aces and pumping her fist in front of the partisan Sobeys Stadium crowd to win in just 20 minutes.
The 24-year-old from nearby Mississauga, Ont., secured her fourth break point to open the second set against her 85th-ranked opponent to take a seventh straight game.
work hard, play harder!👊<a href="https://twitter.com/LTsurenko?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LTsurenko</a> pulls off the ultimate comeback and defeats Andreescu in a three set thriller! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBO24?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBO24</a> <a href="https://t.co/7iaZITvtON">pic.twitter.com/7iaZITvtON</a>
—@WTAThe tables then drastically turned from there for a stretch, with Tsurenko pushing back to even the match as Andreescu seemed to tire.
The Ukrainian broke a frustrated Andreescu three times in the third set to build a 5-0 lead. Andreescu battled hard to win four straight games before a nervy Tsurenko eventually sealed her first victory since May.
She made the third round at both the French Open and Wimbledon before losing out in the second round at the Paris Olympics.
Andreescu, who won the 2019 U.S. Open at age 19, had a string of health concerns — knee, foot and ankle injuries — in recent seasons before the back issue flared up in August 2023.
Tsurenko, 35, won the two previous meetings between the players, including in the third round of last year's French Open.
The NBO rotates the men's and women's brackets between Toronto and Montreal each year.
Heavy withdrawals after quick Olympic turnaround
The women's event endured a boatload of withdrawals — including world No. 1 Iga Swiatek — late last week following the Olympics.
Also skipping Toronto are Wimbledon champion and world No. 10 Barbora Krejcikova (thigh injury) and No. 4 Elena Rybakina (bronchitis) along with No. 5 Jasmine Paolini, No. 8 Maria Sakkari and No. 9 Danielle Collins.
The watered-down field is headlined by No. 2 Coco Gauff of the U.S. and No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka of Russia. American Jessica Pegula, No. 6 overall and last year's NBO winner in Montreal, is in Canada to defend her title.
No. 25 Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., is Canada's top-ranked player.
WATCH | Leylah Fernandez advances to second round at Paris Olympics:
Other notable first-round singles matches Tuesday saw No. 11 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine and No. 12 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus advance in straight sets.
Poised to open her pursuit of the national singles title Wednesday night against China's Zhang Shuai, Fernandez and younger sister Bianca upset the fifth-seeded doubles team of Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands and Brazil's Luisa Stefani.
Raonic pulls out in Montreal
Kei Nishikori rallied to beat Alex Michelsen 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday in the first round of National Bank Open, earning his first victory in an ATP Masters 1000 event in three years.
The 2014 U.S. Open runner-up from Japan has battled injuries in recent years and hadn't won a match in a Masters 1000 event, the level below the four Grand Slam tournaments, since Indian Wells in 2021. He was a finalist in the Canadian tournament in 2016, falling to Novak Djokovic.
Nishikori will face No. 8 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round.
WATCH | Novak Djokovic completes golden slam:
Another oft-injured past finalist in a Grand Slam tournament had to withdraw when Canadian Milos Raonic pulled out before his first-round match against No. 13 seed Holger Rune with a shoulder injury.
"I tried to warm up for my match today and the thing that was most difficult was the serve. I don't think I would've been able to be competitive by any means," said Raonic, who had felt pain in his shoulder over the past 48 hours.
Rune went on to beat Roberto Bautista Agut, who had lost in the final round of qualifying, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Pablo Carreno Busta, the 2022 tournament champion, beat Fabian Marozsan 6-7 (8), 7-6 (6), 6-3 for his first ATP Tour victory since the first round of the 2023 Australian Open. The Spanish player was off the tour for 15 months because of an elbow injury.
Other first-round winners included No. 16 seed Karen Khachanov and Italy's Lorenzo Sonego.
With files from The Associated Press
