Canada’s Bianca Andreescu drops opening-round match in straight sets at Dubai Open

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Canada’s Bianca Andreescu dropped her opening-round match 6-3, 6-4 to Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina at the Dubai Open on Monday.

Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., had two aces and broke on two of her six opportunities. Andreescu also won 63 per cent of first-serve points in the one hour 32-minute match.

Rybakina, meanwhile, fired six aces and converted on 4-of-7 break point chances, with three of them coming in the second set. The tournament’s ninth seed won 72.7 per cent of first-serve points.

In women’s doubles action, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., along with partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S., defeated Brazil’s Luisa Stefani and Kazakhstan’s Anna Danilina 1-6, 6-3, 11-9.

Fernandez will next see action in women’s singles when she takes on world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the second round on Tuesday.

She will then return to doubles to take on Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Xu Yifan Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2023.