Canadians Milos Raonic, Bianca Andreescu and Rebecca Marino started their grass season on the right foot on Tuesday.
Raonic, the 197th-ranked player in the world, upset Australian Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Tennis Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. The 33-year-old Ontarian improved his career record against Thompson, the eighth seed in the tournament, to 2-1. Raonic also obtained his revenge against Thompson, who eliminated him in the round of 16 of the tournament in 2023.
The representative of the maple leaf will meet in the second round with the winner of the duel between the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and the Swiss Marc-Andrea Hüsler, a qualifier.
In the women’s event, Andreescu defeated Dutchwoman Eva Vedder 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round. It was the first career duel between Andreescu, who is ranked 228th in the world, and Vedder, ranked 173rd in the world.
The 2019 US Open champion, who made her return to action at the French Open after a long break caused by an injury suffered at the National Bank Open in Montreal in August 2023, will face China’s Yue in the second round Yuan, seeded sixth.
For his part, Marino advanced to the second round of the Nottingham Open by defeating Swiss Viktorija Golubic 6-1, 6-4. The British Columbian, who is ranked 157th in the world, will meet in the second round with third seed, Briton Katie Boulter. The latter struggled to overcome her compatriot Harriet Dart 6-7 (5), 6-4 and 7-5 earlier in the day.
Ontarian Denis Shapovalov (117th in the world) will begin his career at the Stuttgart Open a little later today, against Frenchman Matteo Martineau. Montrealer Gabriel Diallo (165th) will face Italian Mattia Bellucci in the first round of the Nottingham II Open.
