Canadians Bianca Andreescu, Eugenie Bouchard set to clash at Challenger

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. — Canada’s top two women’s tennis players will square off for the first time on Friday at the Oracle Challenger.

Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., will face Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., in the quarterfinals after both won third-round matches at the WTA 125K series event on Thursday.

The sixth-seeded Andreescu, 18, downed No. 9 seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-2. The third-seeded Bouchard, 24, beat No. 16 Jil Teichmann of Switzerland 6-2, 6-2.

Andreescu has had an excellent start to 2019, reaching the final of the season-opening ASB Classic in New Zealand and then advancing to the second round of the Australian Open after getting through the qualifying portion of the Grand Slam. Ranked 106th in the world, Andreescu’s two biggest wins came on back-to-back days in Auckland against former world No. 1s Venus Williams and Caroline Wozniacki.

Bouchard, ranked 79th, has returned to the top 100 after tumbling down the rankings in recent years. A former world No. 5, Bouchard made it to the quarterfinals of the ASB Classic and the second round of the Australian Open.

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In another third-round match at the Oracle Challenger, Toronto’s Katherine Sebov lost 6-1, 6-2 to Nicole Gibbs of the U.S.

On the men’s side, No. 16 seed Brayden Schnur of Pickering, Ont., upset No. 3 Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S., 6-2, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Vancouver’s Felip Peliwo was bounced in three sets by Enzo Couacaud of France, 6-3, 4-6, 3-6.

The Canadian Press