Canada’s girls obtained off to a powerful begin within the tennis occasion on the 2024 Summer season Olympics in Paris, with each Bianca Andreescu and Leylah Annie Fernandez scoring first-round victories on Sunday.
Andreescu needed to wait again and again to make her Olympic debut, however when she lastly did, it was definitely worth the wait. The Canadian simply dispatched Clara Tauson of Denmark in straight units to advance on Sunday on the Paris Olympics.
Other than one blip within the second set, it was all Andreescu within the opening-round conflict at Roland-Garros. The Canadian stored Tauson underneath fixed strain and was environment friendly on break factors, shifting into the second spherical with a 6-2, 6-3 win.
It was Andreescu’s first-ever match on the Olympics, as she had withdrawn from the earlier Video games in Tokyo three years in the past. Even the match with Tauson was pushed again resulting from rain, having initially been scheduled for Saturday.
All the things went the Canadian’s means within the match, as she gained 81 per cent of her first serve factors and had greater than twice as many winners, 25 to 10, as her opponent. She solely confronted one break level within the match and when she had an opportunity to interrupt Tauson, she took full benefit, changing 4 of six alternatives.
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Andreescu wasted little time in taking an early lead. In Tauson’s second return recreation, the Dane dumped a drop shot into the online handy the Canadian a fast 3-1 lead. As soon as forward, Andreescu misplaced only one level on her personal serve, by no means giving her opponent an opportunity to get again within the set.
After dropping serve once more on the finish of the opener, Tauson seemed to provide herself an opportunity to get again within the match when she took benefit of a collection of Andreescu backhand errors to interrupt for a 2-1 lead within the second set.
Nonetheless, the Canadian shortly responded, bludgeoning the Dane into some errors of her personal to provide the break proper again within the subsequent recreation.
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Utilizing the entire selection at her disposal, Andreescu stored Tauson guessing all through the second set and the Dane struggled to seek out any rhythm. In consequence, a double-fault crammed recreation opened the door for Andreescu, who flipped a lob over Tauson to interrupt for a 5-3 lead. The Canadian wrapped up the win with a forehand winner.
In spherical two, Andreescu will meet latest Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic of Croatia.
Fernandez Fights By
Of the 4 Canadians competing in singles in Paris, Fernandez was dealt arguably the trickiest first-round opponent within the type of 2023 Roland-Garros runner-up Karolina Muchova. The match was back-and-forth, with Fernandez having to carry powerful after letting a lead slip away, however finally gained 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 to succeed in the second spherical of the Olympics for the second time.
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In a match the place seemingly no service recreation was secure, Fernandez was capable of convert seven of 16 break level probabilities, whereas saving six of 10 on her personal serve. The Canadian gained a formidable 53 per cent of her opponent’s first serve factors. Muchova did herself few favours within the match, committing 43 unforced errors.
Proper from the beginning, it was the Canadian making use of strain. Fernandez obtained off to a dream begin, breaking Muchova within the Czech’s first service recreation as she raced out to a 3-0 lead.
Whereas she did have to save lots of a break level when consolidating the break, Fernandez had her foot on the gasoline all through the opening set and continued to assault her opponent’s serve. She was rewarded with one other break to go up 5-1, finally taking the set in slightly below 40 minutes.
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For a lot of the second, the servers discovered themselves underneath fixed strain. There have been break factors in every of the primary six video games, with three of them being transformed. Fernandez initially broke for a 2-1 lead, solely to be tagged again instantly. However then the Canadian broke once more and this time, after saving one other break again level, stretched her result in 4-2.
From there, Muchova flipped a change. After the primary maintain to like of your complete match, she as soon as once more broke the Canadian to get again on serve at 4-4. The following time Fernandez stepped as much as the road, she discovered herself down 15-40, double set level, and was damaged once more on the second as she misplaced 4 straight video games to see the match right into a deciding set.
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Fernandez wasted no time in reclaiming the initiative, breaking shortly to race forward 3-0 within the third. The Canadian was in full management of the rallies, forcing Muchova to do laps behind the baseline and when the Czech was capable of get management of a rally, Fernandez was typically capable of finding a spectacular defensive forehand to flip the script.
The Canadian made it a double break for 4-1 however Muchova was capable of get one again. Nonetheless, there was no denying Fernandez as she pulled out one other dazzling forehand down the road to maneuver inside a recreation of victory at 5-2, the place she served out the win.
Fernandez will meet both Petra Martic of Croatia or Cristina Busca of Spain within the second spherical. The Canadian caught a break when the very best seed in her part, world No. 4 Elena Rybakina, withdrew from the Olympics.
