Canadian tennis player Bianca Andreescu, who won the women’s championship in 2019, and her compatriot Carson Branstine both secured victories on Wednesday to progress to the final stage of the U.S. Open qualifying rounds.
Hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, Andreescu triumphed with a 6-0, 6-3 scoreline against Veronika Podrez from Ukraine in the second round of the women’s singles qualifiers. The 26-year-old Canadian managed to break her opponent five times out of 12 opportunities, setting up a match on Thursday against either Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia or Guiomar Maristany of Spain.
On the other hand, Branstine, a 25-year-old dual citizen born in California but representing her mother’s homeland, clinched a 6-4, 7-5 win over Linda Fruhvirtova from Czechia. Branstine seized all five of her break-point chances and struck 22 winners compared to Fruhvirtova’s eight. She is set to face Robin Montgomery from the United States on Thursday for a chance to secure one of the remaining spots in the main draw.
Andreescu made history in 2019 by becoming the first Canadian to win a singles Grand Slam at the U.S. Open, defeating the renowned Serena Williams in the final. She participated in the tournament in 2024, where she was eliminated in the first round by Maria Sakkari.
Branstine, who exited in the initial qualifying round at the previous year’s U.S. Open, had her Grand Slam debut earlier in 2025 at Wimbledon, where she emerged from qualifying, defeating her friend and occasional doubles partner, Andreescu.
In another second-round of qualifying match on Wednesday, veteran player Rebecca Marino from Vancouver suffered a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Elena Pridankina from Russia. Meanwhile, in the men’s second-round qualifiers, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Quebec, was defeated 7-6 (3), 6-2 by Dalibor Svrcina from Czechia. Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Ontario, was scheduled to play against American Andrew Johnson later in the day.