Bianca Andreescu’s return to the All-England Club was a short one as she was eliminated from Wimbledon in the first round by Shuai Zhang 7-6(3), 7-6(6) in her first main draw match at a Slam since the 2024 US Open.
It was a match of missed opportunities for the Canadian, as she let a 4-1 lead in the first set slip away before failing to capitalize on a chance to serve out the second set.
Zhang, 37, moves on to the second round and will try to match her career-best performance at Wimbledon from 2019, when she reached the quarter-final.
Andreescu got off to a great start, quickly opening a 3-0 lead in the first set. The two were evenly matched through much of the opening set, with each woman earning a break to keep things on serve.
The first set would need a tiebreaker to be settled. After earning a mini-break to take a 2-1 lead, Andreescu would drop the next two points on serve, handing Zhang full control of the match. The Canadian would drop four of five tiebreak points on serve, opening the door for Zhang to take the opener 7-6(3).
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Neither player was particularly sharp in the 1:28 opening set, as Andreescu hit 19 winners while committing 17 unforced errors, while Zhang had 18 winners to her 14 unforced errors.
Andreescu jumped out to another early lead in the second set as she immediately broke Zhang for the second time in the match. Just as she did in the first set, Zhang once again swung momentum in her favour with a key break. With Andreescu serving for the set up 5-4, Zhang broke her at love to get back on serve.
The 26-year-old Canadian was pushed to the brink, as Zhang earned break and match point while up 6-5, but Andreescu was able to fight back to force another tiebreaker. As she did in the first set tiebreak, Zhang fell behind 3-1 early but rallied and won seven of the next nine points to get to match point. After a decent rally, Zhang nailed a beautiful backhand winner to clinch the match and advance to the second round.
Félix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Annie Fernandez are still scheduled for action on Monday.
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