Canadian Bianca Andreescu plays a backhand return to Cristina Bucsa of Spain during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, on Jan. 18, 2023.The Associated Press
Canadians were sent packing early at the Abu Dhabi Women’s Tennis Open, with Bianca Andreescu, Leylah Fernandez and Rebecca Marino all losing their first-round matches on Tuesday.
Andreescu, who advanced to the semi-finals of last week’s Thailand Open before retiring with a shoulder injury, lost 7-6 (2), 6-2 to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.
Putintseva broke Andreescu, from Mississauga, five times on nine chances, and strung together a five-game winning streak in the second set to put the match away.
Fernandez, from Laval, Que., fell 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 to Shelby Rogers. The American saved all four break points she faced, while breaking Fernandez three times on six chances.
Vancouver’s Marino lost 6-3, 6-3, to China’s Zheng Qinwen, who fired 10 aces in the match while committing just one double-fault to Marino’s six.
Both Fernandez and Marino advanced to the main draw of the WTA 500 event through qualifying.