Canadian teenage sensation Bianca Andreescu on Thursday pulled off a Miami Open great escape by fighting back from a set and match point down to beat a dazed Irina-Camelia Begu 4-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-2 in the first round.
The 18-year-old who stunned the tennis world last week by winning her first career title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, raised eyebrows again with a gritty and spirited comeback that underscored her status as a rising star.
Only three women — Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka — have completed the “Sunshine Double,” winning both Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back, and Begu had looked ready to make sure Andreescu would not add her name to that list.
Photo: AP
With 28-year-old Romanian Begu a set up and leading 5-1 in the second the Canadian appeared headed for an early exit, but refused to go down quietly.
Fighting off a match point at 5-2, the steely nerved teenager went on the attack by unleashing a barrage of drop-shots and laser forehands to sweep five straight games from her crumbling opponent to force the second set into a tiebreak.
By then the damage had been done, with a distraught and flustered Begu meekly surrendering the tiebreak.
At the changeover the 70th-ranked Romanian slumped into her chair and hid under a towel in an attempt to regain composure, but when the action resumed little had changed as the surging Andreescu opened the deciding set with a break.
It proved to be the death blow from which Begu never recovered as a ruthless Andreescu closed out the contest in business-like fashion to book a second-round meeting with Sofia Kenin of the US.
The victory was a promising omen for world No. 24 Andreescu, who two weeks earlier beat Begu in a tough three-setter in the opening round at Indian Wells to spark her run to the title.
There was no such drama for third-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova, who breezed into the third round with a straightforward 6-1, 6-4 victory over Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
Three-time Miami Open champion Venus Williams was also in good form, lighting up Center Court by easing past Slovenian qualifier Dalila Jakupovic 7-5, 6-3 as both the sun and the fans returned to the tournament.
After two days of almost constant rain, Williams’ match on the 13,800 temporary stadium court kicked off a busy day as organizers scrambled to get back on schedule after rain washed away three of the first four sessions.
Trailing 5-4 in the opener, Williams stepped up a gear to sweep the next six games, breaking three times to claim the first set, before jumping 3-0 ahead in the second.
In the first round of the men’s singles, 17-year-old Taiwanese wild-card Tseng Chun-hsin fell to a 6-4, 7-5 defeat to world No. 41 Joao Sousa of Portugal.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to