Canada’s Bianca Andreescu had 22 winners and six aces in her first match since last October while posting a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over Germany’s Jule Niemeier in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Tuesday at Stuttgart, Germany.
Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion who has been ranked as high as No. 4 in the world, took a break from tennis to recover physically and mentally. The 21-year-old overcame 17 unforced errors while dispatching Niemeier.
Seventh-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia also advanced as she defeated Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Russia’s Daria Kasatkina also moved on with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Coco Gauff.
Also winning matches Tuesday were Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, and Germans Tamara Korpatsch and Eva Lys.
TEB BNP Paribas Tennis Championship Istanbul
Sorana Cirstea of Romania won 69.4 percent of her first-serve points while recording a 6-4, 6-1 first-round win over Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia in Turkey.
Third-seeded Veronika Kudermetova rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 victory over fellow Russian Marina Melnikova; fifth-seeded Swiss Jil Teichmann outlasted Greet Minnen of Belgium 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3, while Hungary’s Anna Bondar delivered a 6-4, 7-5 upset of Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic.
Also winning matches Tuesday were Arantxa Rus of Netherlands, Julia Grabher of Austria, Nuria Parrizas Diaz of Spain and Ana Bogdan of Romania.
–Field Level Media