Fans in Melbourne can see a meeting of two US Open champions already in the third round of the 2023 Australian Open.
Those players can be the first-seeded Iga Swiatek and world no. 42, Bianca Andreescu, who is trying to pave her way up the rankings after a few seasons full of injuries and uncertainty surrounding her comeback.
Andreescu, who started her season in Adelaide, took on the 25th-seeded Marie Bouzkova in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open. The two met already three times before, with the Canadian winning the first two matches.
However, two years ago, the Czech player won against Andreescu in Melbourne, the Canadian certainly wanted to avoid being beaten in Melbourne again.
Then, it was a meeting at a WTA 250 event, but this time, they faced off at a major and it showed. Andreescu was the first player to break and after avoiding being broken herself, she added one more break to win the first set 6-2 in 47 minutes.
Both players had their chances to break in the second set, but it appeared that it will have to be decided in a tie-break as scoreboard showed 4-4.
However, Andreescu shifted gears and won the last two games of the match, to secure a 6-2, 6-4 win and spot in the second round of the 2023 Australian Open.
She will play against a qualifier Cristina Busca, who defeated another qualifier, Eva Lys in the first round. If Andreescu wins, and world no. 1 Iga Swiatek gets into the third round, we're up for a clash of two US Open champions in Australia.
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