TORONTO, November 3, 2016
Bianca Andreescu (Mississauga, Ont) booked her spot in the quarterfinals of the $50,000 Tevlin Women’s Challenger on Wednesday with her 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 defeat of top-seeded Canadian Francoise Abanda (Montreal). The victory has set up the 16-year-old to meet US-American Raveena Kingsley in the next round at Toronto’s Aviva Centre later this week.
.@Bandreescu_ continues her strong play as she tops Abanda 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to reach the Tevlin Challenger QFs. #CdnTennis pic.twitter.com/PBVNQUz5ir
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) 2. November 2016
“In the first set I played how I had to play to win. I executed my tactics really well and I think I was just focused from the very beginning,” Andreescu said. “In the second set, [Abanda] adjusted to my game, found her rhythm and ended up winning that. But in the third, I told myself to forget about everything and just start from scratch and I think I started dominating the play from the beginning.”
Andreescu’s victory comes three months after falling to Abanda at the $150,000 Granby National Bank Challenger in early August. “I learned a lot from that match and how she plays. I just came out here today forgetting about everything else. The crowd was really good and I’m just very happy to be playing at home. It’s amazing, I think it’s the best feeling.”
US-American Nicole Frenkel is also advancing to the quarterfinals. Frenkel outlasted Renata Zarazua of Mexico 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in a marathon match that lasted three hours and seventeen minutes. On Monday, Frenkel upset No. 7 seed Lauren Albanese of the United States and will see her campaign in Toronto continue on thanks to Wednesday’s win. The 18-year-old next faces the winner of Thursday’s second-round match between No. 4 seed Jesika Maleckova of Czech Republic and Hungarian Fanni Stollar.
In other action, France’s Tessah Andrianjafitrimo defeated Laura Schaeder of Germany 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinal round, while Raveena Kingsley of the United States beat Marie Bouzkova of Czech Republic 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to also advance in Toronto.
Katherine Sebov (Kleinburg, Ont.) faces off against Catherine Bellis of the United States on Thursday as second round action continues. The Canadian qualifier will look to topple the tournament’s No. 1 seed and join compatriot Andreescu in the quarterfinals.
