Bianca Andreescu is desperately trying to shake the nomad label that has been attached to her latest comeback bid.
She was one-and-done at the National Bank Open in Toronto last week. Before that she was bounced in the second round at the Paris Olympics. Not being able to stay in one place for any length of time and early exits gets old in a hurry on the physically demanding WTA Tour.
Once ranked fourth in the world, and the winner of the U.S. and Canadian Opens in 2019, the 24-year-old Mississauga athlete has fallen off the rankings map due to a rash of injuries and lack of victories.
Andreescu, who gained entry to this week's Cincinnati Open as a wild card, lost 6-4, 7-5 on a humid Tuesday night to 21-year-old Russian-born Armenian qualifier Elina Avanesyan in the opening round.
Andreescu played well enough to advance, but didn't, and that will present additional challenges for her coaches as they prepare for next week's U.S. Open in New York.
Andreescu had five aces, three double faults and only saved one of 12 break points in the match that took one hour, 51 minutes to play.
Avanesyan, playing for the first time in Cincinnati, had two aces, one double fault and saved three of nine break points. She was good 78 per cent of the time on first serve, compared to Andreescu's 66 per cent.
Avanesyan was thrilled to win her opener, and acknowledged competing against a player trying to battle back from injury gave her a slight advantage.
"She (Andreescu) is a very good player, but it is not easy to play this game after an injury. I was very happy with how I played tonight, and very happy that I won," said Avanesyan.
Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., faces Yue Yuan of China in her opening women's singles match on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal begins play on Wednesday morning in the Cincinnati Open against American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Auger-Aliassime finished fourth in men's singles at the Paris Olympics, and teamed up with Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa to win the bronze medal in mixed doubles.
Auger-Aliassime lost his opening-round match last week at the National Bank Open in Montreal, falling 6-3. 6-2 to Flavio Cobolli of Italy.
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