2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu took on Romanian tennis player Mihaela Buzarnescu in her opening match at the Australian Open 2021 on Monday. The two players played on two occasions prior to this, with each of them winning one match.

In their third meeting at the season’s first Grand Slam, the World No. 7, Andreescu, fought back to win the match 6-2 4-6 6-3. 

In the opening set, the Canadian superstar struck early and kept putting the pressure on her opponent’s serve. Bianca targeted Mihaela’s second serve, leaving the Romanian with only 38% points won on her second serve. As a result, she broke Buzarnescu twice and comfortably sealed the set 6-2 in her favor. 

Mihaela Buzarnescu breaks Bianca Andreescu for Set 2 comeback

As the second set began, the Romanian player served better as compared to the first set. She held her service games with good effect and hung on until she sensed an opportunity.

In the fifth game of the set, Mihaela grabbed the chance and broke her opponent’s serve for the first time in the match, and consolidated it by holding her serve to take a healthy 4-2 lead. The Romanian eventually took the second set 6-4. 

In the deciding set, Bianca took a 1-0 lead. The Canadian faced a tense situation when she was 0-40 down and came back to hold her serve, to make it 4-3.

In the following game, Bianca got the needed break after her opponent made a forehand unforced error. After a little over two hours, Andreescu served to win the set 6-3. 

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Andreescu reacts to the victory

After winning the match, Bianca said, “Today’s match wasn’t easy at all. I’m super happy with the way I fought till the end. To beat Mihaela, a fellow Romanian, I played her twice in the past and it’s always been a tough match. I’m super super happy.

“I was missing a lot of balls today. I don’t want to be too hard on myself, it’s my first match and I believe in my capabilities. In my next match, I’ll need to raise my level a little more,” she added.

The Canadian star will take on Su-Wei Hsieh in the second round on Wednesday. Bianca’s best performance at the Australian Open was in 2019 when she came as far as the second round.  

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