Australian Open: Favorable draw for Bianca Andres

After a 15-month absence from the WTA Tour, Ontario Bianca Andres is finally ready for her return. She will show it in the first round of the Australian Open tennis, next week, against Romanian Mihela Bujarnes.

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The eighth favorite in the competition, the 20-year-old Canadian benefited from a favorable draw on Friday for the first Grand Slam tournament of the season. A former top-20 player, Buzzarnes is now ranked 138th in the world and entered the main draw as a “lucky loser” in Melbourne. The Canadian and Romanian have faced each other twice in the past, and each has won.

He will make his first game on the tour to Andres from October 2019. She then withdrew from the WTA finals with a knee injury.

After repeatedly postponing her return, the 2019 United States Open champion wanted to be reassured at a press conference in Melbourne on Friday.

“I’m ready,” she said. I made it as best I could and had a five month pre-season. At this point, I am so grateful to come back and stay healthy… I can not wait. ”

While she still aims to be at the top, the former fourth fourth player in the world would love to be realistic in her goals for the big Australia conference.

“Since I haven’t played for a while, I don’t really have expectations (…) but I don’t feel like I have too much pressure on my shoulders. Yes I seeded, but I haven’t played yet. So I want to go out there and say thank you for it. ”

Fernandez vs. Mertens

For his part, young Cuban Leila Annie Fernandez will face 18th seed Belgian Ellis Mertens in the first round. She finds herself at the same table as 11th seed Swiss Belinda Bensik and sixth favorite Czech Carolina Pliskova.

Finally, British Colombian Rebecca Marino will face Australia’s Kimberly Birel (747th), who won the main draw.

Among men, 14th favorite Antarion Milos Rounik will face Argentina Federico Correa (92nd) in the opening round. He is at the table of Swiss Stan Wawrinka, but especially Serbian Novak Djokovic, whom he could face in the fourth round.

For their part, 11th favorite young wolves Denis Shapovalov and 20th seed Felix Agar-Aliasim could cross paths in the third round. On the first lap, the Italian sensation Janic Sinner (36th) promised that the road would be tough for the “shopo” to face. For that, the “FAA” will face German Cedric-Marcel Steb (128th), “lucky defeat” in the opening round. Finally, British Colombian Vasek Pospisil (61st) finished fourth in the world in the first round match against Russian Daniel Medvedev.