Bianca Andreescu beats grand slam champ in Adelaide

Bianca Andreescu (MGLovesTennis, Wikimedia Commons)

Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ontario won her first match of 2023 on Sunday, and in the process beat a grand slam champion, Garbine Muguruza of Spain, 0-6, 7-6, 6-1, in the first round of the 2023 Adelaide International. Andreescu, who is a grand slam champion herself, as she won the 2019 United States Open, beat Muguruza, who won the French Open in 2016, and Wimbledon in 2017.

What will be remembered most from this match was Andreescu’s sensational comeback. She lost 11 of the first 13 games in the match, before forcing a second set tie break, and dominating the third set. Muguruza actually had a chance to win the match when serving 5-3 in the second set, but was broken by Andreescu. In the second set tiebreaker, Andreescu won 7-3.

This was the third time in Andreescu’s career that she has beaten Muguruza. The first time was in the quarterfinals of Indian Wells, where Andreescu won 6-0, 6-1. The second time was in the fourth round of Miami, where Andreescu won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Andreescu will now face the winner of American Amanda Anisimova and Russian Veronika Kudermetova in the second round. Anisimova is a grand slam semifinalist, having reached the final four of the 2019 French Open. Kudermetova reached the 2022 French Open quarterfinals and is the fourth seed in Adelaide.

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