Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open women’s champion, and fellow Canadian Carson Branstine both emerged victorious in their matches on Wednesday to progress to the final round of U.S. Open qualifying matches.
Hailing from Mississauga, Ont., Andreescu secured a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Veronika Podrez of Ukraine in the second round of the women’s singles qualifying event. The 26-year-old Canadian managed to break her opponent five times out of 12 opportunities, setting up a match scheduled for Thursday against either Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia or Guiomar Maristany from Spain.
On the other hand, Branstine clinched a 6-4, 7-5 win against Linda Fruhvirtova from Czechia. The 25-year-old, holding dual citizenship with roots in California representing her mother’s home country, capitalized on 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 for a shot at securing one of the remaining main-draw spots.
Notably, Andreescu made history in 2019 at the U.S. Open by becoming the first Canadian to win a singles Grand Slam title after defeating the iconic Serena Williams in the final. She last participated in the tournament in 2024, facing a first-round defeat against Maria Sakkari.
In contrast, Branstine faced an early exit in last year’s U.S. Open qualifying round. Her Grand Slam debut occurred earlier in 2025 at Wimbledon, where she advanced through the qualifiers, notably defeating her friend and occasional doubles partner, Andreescu, along the way.
In other matches on Wednesday, Vancouver’s experienced player Rebecca Marino suffered a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Russia’s Elena Pridankina in the second round of qualifying. Meanwhile, in men’s second-round qualifying matches, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Que., was defeated 7-6 (3), 6-2 by Dalibor Svrcina from Czechia. Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Ont., was slated to compete against American Andrew Johnson later in the day.