TORONTO –
Canada’s Bianca Andreescu lost to China’s Zheng Qinwen 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 when she was eliminated at Thursday’s National Bank Open.
Andreescu, from nearby Mississauga, Ontario, was the last Canadian to play in the women’s tennis tournament.
Felix Auger-Aliassime is the only remaining Canadian in the men’s in his hometown of Montreal.
Zheng will face Karolína Plíšková of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals of the WTA tournament on Friday.
It was the first time ranked 53rd Andreescu faced world No. 51 Zheng.
Andreescu won the 2019 edition of the event when it was last held in Toronto, claiming victory after all-time great Serena Williams pulled out of the match through injury.
Andreescu, trailing 5-4 in the first set, volleyed well out of Zheng’s reach to take a 40-0 lead in game 10 of the match. The clever play drew loud cheers from the partisans at Sobeys Stadium and then Andreescu’s first ace of the game equalized the set 5-5.
Spectators included Toronto Blue Jays infielders Santiago Espinal and Bo Bichette, and Olympic sprinter Andre De Grasse.
A zheng ace made it 6-5 and then, after a long rally, the Chinese player used an overhead smash to take the set 7-5.
Andreescu made the most of her home field advantage, spurring on the crowd after critical points in the second set.
She pumped her fist and screamed after Zheng’s return to the point of play went well past the baseline. Andreescu then threw up her hands, encouraging fans to cheer as Zheng’s return was long on target.
That momentum didn’t last in the decider as Andreescu quickly fell 3-1 behind.
Although Andreescu won a game point, she earned her chants of “Let’s go Bi-bi!” She gave up three break points as Zheng took a 4-2 lead. A hard forehand shot by Zheng into the opposing field contributed to this advantage.
Zheng ended the match with a double break point when Andreescu stormed the net and the 19-year-old Chinese put the ball deep but in goal.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland was stunned earlier in the day by Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia 6-4 3-6 7-5. The unseeded Haddad Maia had already upset 13th-placed Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., on Wednesday.
Haddad Maia meets the winner of the round of 16 match between Belinda Bencic and Garbine Muguruza in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Serving was a problem for Swiatek with nine double faults to Haddad Maias. The top player from Poland said the swirling gusts in the bowl-shaped stadium were a problem for her.
“Right now it’s hard to say if it was more their game or the wind that really messed up my first set,” said Swiatek, who played Haddad Maia for the first time. “I think she just made better use of the conditions than I did.
“When she played with the wind, she played really strong balls and sometimes I was late for her.”
The wind also contributed to Coco Gauff’s victory in the afternoon. The American made it through to the quarter-finals with an entertaining and error-prone 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (4) win over Aryna Sabalenka.
Both players struggled with the conditions at Sobeys Stadium, with Sabalenka committing 18 double faults and Gauff hitting 15. Sabalenka had a total of 42 unforced errors while Gauff had 32.
Gauff meets Romanian Simona Halep in the quarterfinals. Halep, a two-time Canadian Open champion, defeated Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann 6-2, 7-5 to start the day’s list of matches on Center Court.
Later, Jessica Pegula of the United States, who was seeded seventh, returned after a set to defeat defending champion Camila Giorgi of Italy 3-6 6-0 7-5.
Pegula saved the match point to level the third set 5-5 and then took the lead after Giorgi’s sixth double fault of the game. Pegula served with love in the last game to reach the quarterfinals.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 11, 2022.