The Canadian needed three sets and over two hours to win her first match on grass in over three years.
Bianca Andreescu booked her spot in the second round of the Viking International in Eastbourne beating the American qualifier Christina Mchale in three sets 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in two hours and four minutes.
“I think for me it was super important that I held serve and used my serve to my advantage and taking control of the points from the start and then in the second set she (Mchale) started taking control of the points my serve wasn’t that good and it showed and in the third set I stepped on the break and continued to move forward as much as I can and continued to put pressure”.
A match scheduled for 10:30am local time the match was delayed by rain by four hours, starting at 1:30pm local time and it was the Canadian who started the match the more aggressive player and at 2-1 earned the first two breakpoints of the match with a forehand return winner.
She broke to take a 3-1 lead but the American pushed back and at 4-2 she had a chance to go back on serve but the world number seven hung in and saved it.
At 5-3 with the number three seed serving for the first set it was the world number 96 with three chances to break but the Toronto native would save all three before facing a fourth and succumbing to it. However Andreescu would break once more the following game to seal the first set.
The American was determined to level the match in the second set and broke in the opening game to take a 1-0 lead with a stunning forehand winner and it stayed on serve until 4-1 when the Canadian would get a break back but the New Jersey native would break again the following game and serve out the second set to level the match.
The Canadian pushed hard in the beginning of the third set earning three chances to break at 1-0 and got the crucial break when Mchale would serve a double fault.
Andreescu would serve for the match at 5-2 and it took three match points to get the job done and seal the win for her first win on grass of the 2021 season.
After the match in her post match press conference Andreescu spoke about needing a match like that to get herself going.
“Yes for sure, It felt really good to get that under my belt and I felt really good out there as well so that’s a bonus, my serve keeps improving and my shots, in general, keep penetrating the court more than my last two matches so for me it’s a win”.
Andreescu will now either face Anett Kontaveit or Svetlana Kuznetsova in the next round.
