Canada’s Andreescu drops third-round match to Italy’s Paolini at Wimbledon

By The Canadian Press on July 5, 2024.

Bianca Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ont., is out of the women's singles draw at Wimbledon after dropping her third-round match to Italy's Jasmine Paolini in straight sets 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Friday. Andreescu returns to Paolini during their third round match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Friday, July 5, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Kirsty Wigglesworth

LONDON, Ont. – Bianca Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ont., is out of the women’s singles draw at Wimbledon after dropping her third-round match to French Open runner-up Jasmine Paolini of Italy in straight sets 7-6 (4), 6-1 on Friday.

The seventh-seeded Paolini, who also ousted the Canadian in the third round at Roland-Garros last month, won 76 per cent of her first serves and broke Andreescu four times on seven opportunities in a match that lasted 91 minutes.

Andreescu committed 21 unforced errors, compared to 13 for Paolini.

The Italian recorded 17 winners in total, with 14 of them coming at the net.

“I tried to be aggressive because if not, she’s going to run me (around) too much,” Paolini said. “The goal for me was to control the point from the beginning, with the serve and the return.”

Paolini’s win sets up a fourth-round clash against either Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine or Madison Keys of the United States.

In men’s play, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., began his match against American Ben Shelton on Friday, but rain suspended play with Shelton leading 3-2 in the opening set.

Andreescu and Paolini played under the retractable roof on No. 1 Court at the All England Club.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2024.