Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 women’s champion at the U.S. Open, and Canadian athlete Carson Branstine both secured victories on Wednesday, progressing to the final stage of the U.S. Open qualifying rounds.
Hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, Andreescu triumphed with a 6-0, 6-3 win against Veronika Podrez from Ukraine during the women’s singles qualifying tournament. She broke her opponent five times out of 12 opportunities, setting up a match for Thursday against either Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia or Guiomar Maristany from Spain.
Branstine, a 25-year-old dual citizen born in California but representing her mother’s home country, claimed a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Linda Fruhvirtova from Czechia. She successfully converted all five of her break-point chances and delivered 22 winners compared to Fruhvirtova’s eight. Branstine is set to face Robin Montgomery from the United States on Thursday to compete for one of the remaining main-draw positions.
In 2019, Andreescu made history by becoming the first Canadian to win a singles Grand Slam at the U.S. Open, defeating the iconic Serena Williams in the final. She last participated in the tournament in 2024, exiting in the first round against Maria Sakkari.
Looking back, Branstine was eliminated in the first round of last year’s U.S. Open qualifying. Her Grand Slam debut took place earlier in 2025 during Wimbledon, where she emerged from the qualifying rounds, defeating her friend and occasional doubles partner, Andreescu, in the process.
In other matches on Wednesday, Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino faced a 6-2, 6-4 defeat against Russia’s Elena Pridankina in the second round of qualifying. In men’s action, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Quebec, suffered a 7-6 (3), 6-2 loss to Dalibor Svrcina from Czechia. Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Ontario, met American Andrew Johnson later in the day for his second-round qualifying match.
