(Washington) Canada’s Bianca Andreescu was eliminated in the first round at the Washington tournament after losing 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk on Monday.
Andreescu, who is currently ranked 44th in the world, lost despite winning 51.7% of her points, largely thanks to a dominant first set.
It was the 23-year-old Ontarian’s first game this hard court season, having not played since her third-round loss at Wimbledon to Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur.
Quebecer Leylah Fernandez will play her first match in Washington on Tuesday, when she will face American Bernarda Pera.
Andreescu now directs her attention to the National Bank Open in Montreal, a tournament she won in Toronto in 2019, before winning the major title at the US Open.
His first-round match in Montreal is scheduled for next Tuesday night.
Defending Washington champion Liudmila Samsonova extended her tournament winning streak to six with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over 2022 Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins.
Seeded eighth, Samsonova erased two break points and won four on Collins’ serve. For his part, Collins did not help his cause with eight double faults.
Samsonova, 24, is currently 18th in the world. She has won four career singles tournaments.
Sixth seed Belinda Bencic moved on to the next round when her opponent, Anastasia Potapova, withdrew in the first set with a left ankle injury.
On the men’s side, Aslan Karatsev beat Kiranpal Pannu 7-6 (3), 6-1, while Alexander Shevchenko edged Maxime Cressy 6-3, 7-6 (8).
Michael Mmoh also secured his ticket to the next round by winning his match 6-3, 6-3 against Bradley Klahn.
