(‘s-Hertogenbosch) In the same event and in fairly similar circumstances, Canadians Bianca Andreescu and Milos Raonic suffered elimination on Thursday at the Lawn Tennis Tournament in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands .
Andreescu was unable to convert a single of her nine set points in the first set and protect a 2-0 lead in the second set, and she fell 6-7(6), 3-6 against Slovak Viktoria Hruncakova in a second-round duel.
Later in the day, Raonic dropped two set points in the first set en route to a 6-7(4), 1-6 loss to Australian Jordan Thompson, also in the second round.
Raonic, who returned to the ATP Tour this week after an absence of about two years, held off 103rd-ranked Thompson in the opening round.
Supported by six aces and despite three double faults, Raonic faced only one break point in this first set, in the fifth game, which he erased.
Then, while leading 6-5, Raonic took a 40-15 lead serving his opponent. However, Thompson came from behind and forced a tiebreaker which he won 7-4 with a mini-break on the fourth point.
Thompson then took control of the second set with a break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead.
The 32-year-old Canadian hasn’t recovered, collecting just three points in the last three games.
On Monday, Raonic took part in his first match on the ATP Tour since July 28, 2021. Against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, 39th in the world, Raonic scored a victory in two sets of 6-3, 6-4.
For his part, Thompson will cross swords with Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, who surprised favorite Daniil Medvedev in three sets.
Missed opportunities
Against a rival ranked 144th in the world, Andreescu had four set points in game 10 and four more in game 12, each time serving her opponent. Andreescu picked up one last in the tiebreaker. Each time, the 25-year-old Slovak held her own before closing the first set on her first set point.
Sixth-seeded and No. 37 in the world, Andreescu responded by winning the first two games of set two. Hruncakova, however, brought the duel to even service with a break in the fourth game.
Hruncakova added a break four games later to give her a 5-3 lead. She ended the duel on her first match point, on her serve, after about two hours of action.
In total, in the first set, Andreescu gave himself 15 break points. She converted just one in the eighth game, giving her a 5-3 lead and the opportunity to close the set on her serve. However, Hruncakova immediately responded with a break.
The Slovak was much more efficient on her serve in the second set, giving Andreescu just one break chance, which the Canadian still converted in the opening game.
