Big win in Thailand clinches semi-final berth for Mississauga’s Andreescu

Mississauga’s Bianca Andreescu has earned a berth in the semi-finals of the Thailand Open tennis tournament thanks to a two-set victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk early this morning (Feb. 3).

Andreescu, 22, the tourney’s top seed, disposed of Kostyuk, the No. 5 seed, 6-0, 7-6 to advance to Saturday’s final four against another Ukrainian, Lesia Tsurenko.

The Mississaugan was poised to put her opponent away even earlier in the match while leading 5-2 in the second set, but the 20-year-old Ukrainian mounted a bit of a comeback to take a 6-5 lead before eventually bowing out.

Andreescu, who has climbed to No. 42 in Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings as she battles to again be included among the tennis elite, has her sights set on what would be her first tourney victory in more than three years.

The first obstacle in her way is Saturday morning’s opponent on centre court, Tsurenko, who’s ranked No. 136 in WTA circles. The match begins at 6:15 a.m.

Andreescu, a Grand Slam champ thanks to a stunning U.S. Open victory in 2019, continues her comeback bid after an extended period away from tennis in 2021.

Earlier this week in Hua Hin, Thailand, she defeated England’s Harriet Dart (WTA No. 104) 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday and Russia’s Anastasia Zakharova (WTA No. 186) 6-2, 7-5 on Wednesday to advance to the final eight on Friday.

The Mississaugan improved her career record against Dart to 3-1.

In late January, Andreescu advanced to the second round of the Australian Open, beating 25th seed Marie Bouzkova (Czechia) in the first round before falling to WTA No. 86 Cristina Bucsa (Spain).

Last October, in what has become a familiar script, Andreescu was once again eliminated from a tournament after racking up impressive victories at the outset.

The Canadian tennis star has battled inconsistency as she tries to work her way back into the WTA upper rankings.

Andreescu remains in search of a tournament victory as she seeks to return to the top of the women’s singles rankings. She climbed to as high as No. 4 in WTA rankings in late 2019 after shocking the tennis world with her U.S. Open victory earlier the same year.