Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open women’s champion, along with Canadian player Carson Branstine, both secured victories on Wednesday to progress to the final round of U.S. Open qualifying matches. Andreescu, hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, triumphed with a 6-0, 6-3 win against Veronika Podrez from Ukraine in the second round of the women’s singles qualifying event. She managed to break her opponent’s serve five times out of 12 opportunities, setting up a match on Thursday against either Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia or Guiomar Maristany from Spain.
On the other hand, Branstine clinched a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Linda Fruhvirtova from Czechia. The 25-year-old, born in California but representing her mother’s home country, capitalized on all five break-point chances and delivered 22 winners compared to Fruhvirtova’s eight. Branstine is scheduled to face Robin Montgomery from the United States on Thursday, competing for one of the remaining main-draw spots.
Notably, Andreescu made history at the 2019 U.S. Open as the first Canadian to win a singles Grand Slam title, defeating Serena Williams in the final. She last participated in the tournament in 2024, experiencing a first-round loss to Maria Sakkari. Conversely, Branstine, who exited in the first round of qualifying at last year’s U.S. Open, made her Grand Slam debut earlier in 2025 at Wimbledon, where she defeated her friend and occasional doubles partner, Andreescu.
In the other second-round qualifying matches on Wednesday, Vancouver’s veteran player Rebecca Marino suffered a 6-2, 6-4 defeat against Russia’s Elena Pridankina. Moving to the men’s section, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Quebec, faced a 7-6 (3), 6-2 loss to Dalibor Svrcina from Czechia, while Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Ontario, was set to meet American Andrew Johnson later in the day.