By Canadian Press

Canada’s Bianca Andreescu beats Kenin to advance to third round in Miami

Mar 22, 2019 | 8:15 AM

MIAMI — Canada’s Bianca Andreescu has exacted revenge on one of the three women to beat her in the 2019 season.

The 18-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won her ninth consecutive match on Friday, beating No. 32 seed Sofia Kenin of the United States 6-3, 6-3 in a second-round contest at the Miami Open.

Kenin was the last player to beat the 24th-ranked Andreescu, prevailing in a three-set semifinal in Acapulco, Mexico on March 1.

Since then, Andreescu has captured the BNP Paribas Open title in Indian Wells, Calif., and won two more matches in Miami. She is now 30-3 during the 2019 season.

“I got a sense of how she plays. Obviously, I was expecting the right things,” Andreescu said of the rematch with Kenin. “I definitely played a lot better than in Acapulco.”

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Andreescu will next face No. 8 seed Angelique Kerber of Germany on Saturday night in a rematch of the Indian Wells final.

Friday’s match lacked the drama of Andreescu’s previous three outings — all of which were three-set, two-plus-hour contests. She was coming off a thrilling win on Thursday over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu in which Andreescu trailed 6-3, 5-1.

“I’m actually really happy with how my body’s holding up. The only thing that’s a problem is now my shoulder is pretty tight,” said Andreescu, who had her right arm taped for Friday’s match. “I’ve been seeking treatment. It’s not too bad.”

Andreescu and Kenin both struggled with their first serves, with the Canadian breaking the American three times in the first set to win it.

Andreescu recorded another three breaks in the second set. Kenin double-faulted on the final point of the match, Andreescu’s third match point.

Andreescu got in 55 per cent of her first serves, as compared to just 40 per cent for Kenin. Both players had six double-faults.

Andreescu said she’s trying not to focus on her winning streak.

“I try not to overthink about what happened last week. I know I just won a really big tournament, now I’m here in Miami,” she said.

“The only pressure I think is the pressure I put on myself.”

Kenin is familiar to Canadian tennis fans after her earlier win over Andreescu, along with a run to the ASB Classic doubles title with Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., in New Zealand in January.

On the men’s side in Miami, 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal also is heading to the third round.

Auger-Aliassime beat No. 29 seed Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. The Canadian bounced back after blowing a 4-2 lead in the second set.

Auger-Aliassime had a solid edge in terms of getting his first serve in, doing it 67 per cent of the time as compared to 52 per cent for his opponent.

The Canadian recorded six aces and six breaks.

Meanwhile, Milos Raonic has advanced to the third round without playing a single point.

The No. 12 seed from Thornhill, Ont., won by walkover against Maximilian Marterer on Friday as the German retired before the second-round match.

Raonic received a first-round bye as a seeded player.

The Canadian will play No. 19 seed Kyle Edmund of Great Britain in the third round. Edmund beat Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 on Friday.

No. 20 seed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., is slated to face Daniel Evans of Great Britain in a second-round match, likely on Saturday.

The Canadian Press