Two Canadians in action, two straight-set wins on Wednesday at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia as Bianca Andreescu and Victoria Mboko both cruised through their first-round matches.
Bianca Andreescu is through to her second-consecutive WTA 1000 round of 64 after a 6-0, 6-3 win over Federica Urgesi at the Internazionali BNL D’Italia on Wednesday.
The Mississauga-native showed her power and experience against the 20-year-old Italian, the youngest opponent Andreescu has faced since the 2019 Australian Open. The Canadian No. 3 broke four consecutive times and was dominant in her service games.
Andreescu only dropped three points on serve in the opening set, recording two aces in the process. Then serving for the set at 40-30, the 2019 US Open champion’s serve proved too much for Urgesi whose return was put away by a powerful forehand winner at the net.
Andreescu ran into some troubles in the second set. Up an early break, she faced one of her toughest service games of the match. At 30-all, the Canadian put her backhand volley wide, giving Urgesi a chance to break.
However, Andreescu was determined to not be on the wrong end of a break back, firing a pair of big forehands to hold serve.
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In the third game, the young Italian ended Andreescu’s run of breaks but was still unable to break back.
The Canadian then broke again despite three game points for Urgesi to take a commanding 4-1 lead before holding serve to get within a game of victory.
Looking to end the match with another break, Andreescu couldn’t capitalize on match point and Urgesi eventually managed a hold to keep the match alive.
In the ensuing game trying to serve it out, Andreescu found herself down 15-40. She managed to save the first break point but the world No.121 put her backhand volley into the net on the second to make it 5-3.
Undeterred, Andreescu held her second match point of the afternoon in the following game on Urgesi’s serve and did not let it slip away on this occasion, putting away an overhead to end the Italian’s hope at a comeback.
This is the Mississauga-native’s first win at the Italian Open since 2022. She’ll be drawn up against world No. 19 Donna Vekic in the round of 64.
Mboko Scores First WTA Clay Win in Rome
Victoria Mboko carried her strong 2025 form onto the dirt, scoring her first WTA Tour main draw match win on clay on Wednesday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome. She defeated local wild card Arianna Zucchini in straight sets in what was her first tour-level main draw match on the surface.
Having come through qualifying to get into the Rome main draw, Mboko was able to find a rhythm quickly after a slow start. Once she got rolling, the Canadian teen maintained the advantage throughout on her way to a 6-2, 6-3 win.
The Canadian gobbled up her opportunities in this one, breaking serve in every game where she held a break point. Overall, she converted six of 13 chances. Mboko feasted on Zucchini’s serve, winning 60 per cent of the Italian’s total service points.
Mboko got off to a slow start in her first WTA main draw match on clay, dropping serve in the opening game. But after falling into an early 0-2 hole, she dominated the rest of the way.
In the fourth game, Mboko got a love-40 advantage and converted the second break point to draw even at 2-2. Two games later on Zucchini’s serve, a backhand winner down the line from the Canadian gave her a chance to break for the lead, which she converted by using a big forehand to draw an error.
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Once Mboko found her rhythm, there was nothing the Italian could do to slow her down. The Canadian was dominating the rallies, pushing Zucchini all over the court and the Italian could barely hang in. Serving to stay in it at 2-5, a Zucchini error gave Mboko two set points and a big backhand by the teen drew a forehand long to wrap up the opening frame.
Zucchini held her opening service game in the second set for 1-1, ending the Canadian’s run at seven games in a row. Mboko was still the aggressor, though, as she raced ahead love-40 in the Italian’s second service game and Zucchini missed a forehand to give the teen the edge.
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Unlike the first set, Mboko was not able to run away with it. Twice she held a break lead, at 3-1 and 4-2, but both times she was unable to consolidate and was immediately broken back. The third time was the charm, though. Mboko broke for a 5-3 lead and was able to serve out the match with relative ease.
Like in Miami, Mboko will face a big-name opponent in the second round. She will take on one of the toughest challenges on tour in the form of world No. 3 Coco Gauff.
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
