Bianca Andressscu fights to upset Victoria Azarenka at French Open

Bianca Andresscu celebrates a point during her opening match with Victoria Azarenka at the French Open. 

Bianca Andreescu put up a fight to the very end at the French Open Tuesday night. The Canadian made the opening round one to fight through every point against Victoria Azarenka to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Court Simone Mathieu on the grounds of Roland Garros.

The two stars met for the first time in a critical moment for both players. The former world number one did well at the Australian Open, but ever since then, struggled through the rest of the tour up to now. On the clay courts, the 33-year-old lost early in Madrid and pulled out of Rome before the third round due to injury. Her 10-5 record in opening matches at Roland Garros gave the Canadian a shot at beating the 18th seed. The 22-year-old was ready to win since her ankle injury at Miami. Andreescu suffered a number of injuries over the recent years. Being ready to go, the Canadian would give it her best to stay in the tournament.

She opened scoring by nailing winners and an ace down the T near Azarenka, who was shutout. The 18th seed struggled to play the points before watching the Canadian return one to sit on break points. Azarenka fired a crosscourt winner to save one and another on a wide return from Andreescu. The 22-year-old flopped on deuce, sending a ball directly into the umpire’s hands. She continued to have a strong service until Azarenka dug in during a rally for game point, beating Andreescu’s speedy response.

She managed to avoid deuce and win the third, but her opponent was livid about a bad call change made by the umpire. She merged the anger into her game, securing the service to level the score. A break of Andreescu gave her the lead in the fifth, producing necessary points late. The 18th seed added her third straight win over Andreescu, capping a strong service game in the sixth.

Azarenka dictated the returns well in the seventh, making it tough for the Canadian to avoid the double break. The Canadian threatened to break back on Azarenka’s serve for the set, but the 33-year-old got back into the lead and captured set point. It was a 40-minute outcome for the 18th seed, who didn’t have as many winners as her opponent, but had a steady output.

Andreescu called for the trainer, but she didn’t arrive in time to perform a medical timeout. The Canadian was forced to serve open the second set and trailed her opponent with errors committed. A third into the net handed Azarenka a breakpoint opportunity but finished a rally with a backhand error. She had one left and clinched it on Andreescu’s forehand crashing into the net.

The 22-year-old broke back to love in the second, dictating the returns beautifully. She failed to consolidate her efforts on the serve, giving Azarenka the break back. The 18th seed took a 3-1 lead, consolidating her service into the mix while holding her opponent to a point. The fifth game saw both smash winners to one another, but a change of momentum occurred and went in Andreescu's favor, who held the service.

The Canadian played every point like they were hers to win and gave nothing free to her opponent. On deuce, the 22-year-old fired accurate winners away from Azarenka’s reach to break. Andreescu added a third consecutive victory, bringing the heat to her returns for the lead. Azarenka tried hard to avoid another service from going south, but errors from her side awarded the Canadian a 5-3 situation that put her in reach of going the distance.

Serving for the set, the Canadian got tight with her shots, narrowly missing an ace for set point. She fired one down the line right of Azarenka to complete the 1-3 comeback and sit with a five-game winning streak after 49 minutes. Andreescu had 17 winners and ten unforced errors, but her fight from four double faults in the set proved her fight was alive and well.

When the third got underway, Azarenka notched two winners and forced errors by Andreescu to put an end to the slide. The Canadian earned free points on serve from the 33-year-old to level the score and get to business. The third was heavily contested, even during a point where Andreescu fell down. She and Azarenka went nearly six minutes in a two-break battle that stayed with the Canadian, who notched her fifth winner in the game.

With the break in hand, the 22-year-old went to deuce, denying Azarenka a breakpoint and taking the following AD point. The 18th seed stayed close to the Canadian because of her service hold in the fifth. She wanted a break to level the score, but Andreescu was not giving in. The 33-year-old erred a return to force deuce for Canadian, who dug in for a four-break battle to win it after a second pop fly return by Azarenka.

After the ten-minute ordeal, Andreescu had two game buffer and still had enough energy to respond well on the returns. Azarenka dug in to hold the seventh but watched the Canadian sped her way through the eighth on serve. Playing for the match, the 22-year-old suffered back-to-back errors and watched Azarenka overcome a double fault and hold serve.

The Canadian had a shot at getting it done on serve and achieved triple match points on errors from her opponent. Azarenka saved one on a crosscourt return winner and two more on errors by Andreescu. They went to deuce for the tenth time in the match, with the 22-year-old gaining a fourth attempt. On the second serve, she failed to get to a lobbed return by Azarenka. The Canadian brought up a fifth match point and watched her night come to a close after a hit into the net, ending a two-and-a-half-hour battle.

“I didn’t have a lot of matches under my belt, but I wanted to come into the tournament playing my best and happy with the way it turned out,” said Andreescu after the match.