Tennis News: Grand Slam champions such as Bianca Andreescu, Victoria Azarenka and Petra Kvitova performed well at the start of the 2022 Guadalajara Open season.
The Canadian reached the second round of the Guadalajara Open with a convincing 6-2, 6-4 win over Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann.
Viewing the Guadalajara tournament as one he hopes to do better towards the end of the season, 2019 US Open champion Andreescu played fast against Teichmann. He never fell behind in a game that lasted 80 minutes.
Having never played in a WTA 250-level tournament or qualified for the WTA Finals last season in Guadalajara, the Canadian made his Guadalajara debut this week.
“I really like the atmosphere here. I think the height of this place helps me in a way, especially when shooting winners,” Andreescu said.
“I felt like it took the ball away, which I really like. I just want to play, stay positive and give my all.”
“I am very happy with my consistency. Sometimes I can do more, but I choose to be safer. I don’t want to overdo it, there’s a pretty good balance. I thought my serve was really good this time, as well as my return, and I fought until the end.
The Canadian victory over Teichmann added to the long list of victories over lefties at 10-0.
Andreescu is expecting a two-time Wimbledon winner, Kvitova, who is also a left-handed tennis player, in the second round.
Czech Kvitova came back after leading 1-3 in the first set before earning a 6-3, 7-5 win over American Bernarda Pera.
This week, Kvitova is aiming for her 30th career title. She won her 29th title at Eastbourne this season and also reached the final of her 40th career at Cincinnati, but had to settle for second place after losing to Caroline Garcia.
In other action, former world number 1 Azarenka also looked stunning when she crippled Elina Avanesyan 6-4, 6-2 in the first round of the Guadalajara Open.
Azarenka was originally scheduled to play against Chinese national Zhang Shuai, but he was forced to withdraw from the game due to illness. As Avanesyan lost to Linda Fruhvirtova in the final match of the qualifying round, she got a second chance to enter the WTA 1000-level tournament for the first time as a lucky loser.
With the win, Azarenka will have a hot match in the second round against first seed Paula Badosa. Last season Spaniard Badosa beat him at Indian Wells, but the former world No. 1 avenged the defeat by winning their meeting in Adelaide earlier this season.
Tags: Tennis, Guadalajara Open, Bianca Andreescu, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova
Published by Ligaolahraga.com at https://www.ligaolahraga.com/tenis/bianca-andreescu-dan-victoria-azarenka-lulus-ujian-pertama-di-guadalajara
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