Andreescu among the Canadian casualties in French Open qualifying

By Canadian Press on May 21, 2025.

PARIS — Bianca Andreescu’s comeback hit a snag Wednesday when she was bounced from the second round of the French Open qualifying tournament.

The 17th seed from Mississauga, Ont., had match point against Japan’s Nao Hibino up 5-3 in the second set. But she failed to convert, and Hibino came back for a 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 victory on the clay courts of Roland Garros that took two hours 31 minutes to complete.

Andreescu was one of three Canadians eliminated from qualifying Wednesday at the second Grand Slam of the tennis season.

Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over 24th seed Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, and 10th seed Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland was a comfortable 6-0, 6-3 winner over Carson Branstine, a Californian who represents Canada internationally.

The 24-year-old Andreescu, a former world No. 4 and the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is back on the court after a nearly six-month layoff after she underwent emergency appendix surgery in February. She has had some success this year on clay — which she has said is not her strongest surface — including a run to the fourth round of the WTA 1000 Italian Open earlier this month.

Rising star Victoria Mboko of Toronto, the last Canadian alive in qualifying, plays a second-round match Thursday against Kathinka von Deichmann of Liechtenstein.

Elsewhere, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal was set to face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France in the second round of the Hamburg Open.

Auger-Aliassime, seeded sixth in Hamburg, is using the ATP 500 tournament as a tune-up for the French Open after he withdrew from the Italian Open with a sore back.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2025.

The Canadian Press