Canada's Andreescu opens grass-court season with win at Libema Open

Canada's Bianca Andreescu started off her grass-court season with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Dutch qualifier Eva Vedder on Tuesday in first-round action at the Libema Open.

Andreescu won on her second match point when Vedder returned her serve wide.

The 23-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., put the match away with a solid third set in which she won 68 per cent of service points and didn't face break point.

She had 18 break-point chances against Vedder, converting four of them.

Andreescu will next face sixth seed Yue Yuan of China in the second round of the WTA 250 event in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

Andreescu recently returned to action at the French Open after sustaining a back injury at the National Bank Open in Montreal last August. She advanced to the third round of the clay-court Grand Slam before losing to eventual finalist Jasmine Paolini of Italy.

In other grass-court results Tuesday, Vancouver's Rebecca Marino defeated Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round of the Nottingham Open, while Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., defeated French qualifier Matteo Martineau 7-6 (5), 7-5 in the opening round of the Stuttgart Open.

Marino, who advanced to the main draw through qualifying at the WTA 250 event in Nottingham, England, had nine aces and five breaks against Golubic, who is 350 places higher than the Canadian in the world rankings.

The 33-year-old Marino will next face third seed Katie Boulter of Britain.

Shapovalov, who was given a wild-card in Stuttgart, Germany, had nine aces and two breaks, including a key win that put him up 6-5 in the second set.

The 25-year-old Canadian will next face Italy's Matteo Berrettini in a battle of former top-10 players.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2024.