Canadian Bianca Andreescu eliminated in first round of French Open

May 31, 2021 | 8:10 AM

PARIS — Canada’s Bianca Andreescu is out of the French Open after suffering a first-round loss.

The No. 6 seed, from Mississauga, Ont., lost 6-7 (1), 7-6 (2), 9-7 to world No. 85 Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia on Monday in a three-hour, 20-minute match at the clay-court Grand Slam.

Zidansek is into the second round of the French Open for the first time after pulling off her first career victory over a top-10 opponent.

It was just Andreescu’s fourth match, and first loss, on clay in her career at the top level.

The 20-year-old Andreescu pulled out of last week’s Strasbourg warm-up event with abdominal discomfort after winning two matches.

Prior to that, the 2019 U.S. Open champion was off seven weeks. Andreescu suffered a foot injury in the final of the Miami Open in April and then tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Spain for the start of the clay-court season.

Andreescu did not play at all in 2020 after suffering a knee injury at the WTA Finals in 2019. 

Andreescu made 63 unforced errors on Monday, 17 more than her opponent.

Leylah Annie Fernandez of Laval, Que., the other Canadian in the women’s singles draw, won her first-round match on Sunday.

Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the lone Canadian in the men’s singles draw, plays his first-round match Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2021.

The Canadian Press