TORONTO, November 5, 2016
Hometown favourite Bianca Andreescu (Mississauga, Ont.) was unable to secure a spot in the semifinals of the $50,000 Tevlin Women’s Challenger, she fell to US-American Raveena Kingsley 6-1, 6-4 in Friday’s quarter-final match at the Aviva Centre in Toronto.
Kingsley excelled in her first tournament back following a wrist injury, which kept the 18-year old sidelined for three months. Kingsley allowed Andreescu just one break in the hour and twenty-nine minute contest.
The Baltimore native will face fellow American and No. 1 seed Catherine “CiCi” Bellis in her next match. Bellis defeated Tessah Andrianjafitrimo of France 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 to move on to the semifinals. For the second consecutive match, Bellis fought back from a first set deficit. The 17-year-old found her rhythm midway through the second to complete the comeback and set up Saturday’s meeting with Kingsley.
No. 4 seed Jesika Maleckova of Czech Republic was the first player to move into the semifinals earlier in the day. The 22-year-old defeated US-American Nicole Frenkel 6-1, 6-2 in Friday’s opening match. Maleckova will face Belgium’s Elise Mertens in the semifinal round.
Mertens advanced with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 defeat over US-American qualifier Ronit Yurovsky. The No. 2 seed required a medical time out in the first set, but rebounded to wrap up the quarter-final victory and advance to the field’s final four.
Doubles Final Is Set
In doubles, the final has been set and the top-ranked duo of Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa) and Michaella Krajicek of Netherlands will contend for the title in the championship match on Saturday. The No. 1 seeds took down the all-Canadian team of Bianca Andreescu and Charlotte Robillard-Millette (Blainville, Que.) 6-3, 6-4. A victory this weekend would see Dabrowski capture her fifth doubles title at the Tevlin Challenger, having won the trophy in 2007, and from 2010-2012. The Ottawa native also reached the doubles final in 2014.
“There aren’t a lot of tournaments in Canada, and with how my schedule has been in doubles I haven’t been able to play the tournaments that are closer to home for me,” Dabrowski said of playing a Canadian event. “That being said, I feel privileged that I don’t have to travel too far away to go and play a tournament at the level I want to play at and courts that I’ve played on a lot. It does kind of feel like home because I’ve been here so much. It’s special, if it wasn’t such a great tournament I wouldn’t come back here and the field wouldn’t be as great as it is.”
Dabrowski and Krajicek will face No. 2 seeds Ashley Weinhold and Caitlin Whoriskey, both of the United States, in Saturday’s championship match. Weinhold and Whoriskey defeated wild cards Elena Bovina of Russia and fellow US-American Carson Branstine 6-7(5), 6-1, 10-6 on Friday afternoon.
