Canada’s Andreescu posts comeback win over Kalinina at Wimbledon

LONDON – Canada’s Bianca Andreescu defeated 26th-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (7) Friday in a second-round Wimbledon match that featured major momentum swings.

Andreescu looked like she was heading for a routine victory after winning the first set and going up a break early in the second.

However, Kalinina later broke back to even the second set at 4-4, and picked up another break in the deciding game to even the match at a set apiece.

The Ukrainian had a break and a hold to go up 5-2 in the third set, but Andreescu stormed back to force a tiebreaker.

Andreescu raced out to a 9-3 lead in the tiebreaker, but Kalinina saved four match points before the Canadian finally prevailed.

Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., will next face the winner of a match between sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia and Chinese qualifier Bai Zhuoxuan.

Later Friday, 26th-seeded Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., faced Britain’s Liam Broady in a third-round match, and Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., teamed with American Taylor Townsend for a first-round women’s doubles match against Americans Alycia Parks and Peyton Stearns.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2023.

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