Guadalajara (Mexico) – The opening of the second round of the WTA 1000 in Guadalajara was marked by a duel between two Grand Slam champions and a great victory for Bianca Andreescu. The Canadian won the comeback against the Czech Petra Kvitova by 3/6, 6/2 and 6/0 with 2:11 of the start to guarantee her place in the round of 16.

After a first set with two breaks in favor of Kvitova, Andreescu’s reaction started in the next part. She started setting the most points with her forehand and also attacking the Czech’s serve more frequently, being more aggressive in the returns. She got four more breaks in the second set, which had its ups and downs, and dominated the decisive game. The Canadian broke three more times, despite two more break points late in the game.

2019 US Open champion and former world No. 4, Andreescu is 22 and currently sits No. 59 in the rankings. The Canadian went more than a year without playing due to a knee injury and also took a break from competitions for another seven months to take care of her mental health. Your next rival will come from the match between Kazakh Elena Rybakina and American Jessica Pegula.

Sakkari, Garcia and Kasatkina are still fighting for places in the final
Candidate for a place in the WTA final, the Russian Daria Kasatkina made her debut with a victory in Guadalajara. Current world number 11 and seventh-best player of the year, Kasatkina scored quiet 6/1 and 6/2 splits against China’s Lin Zhu. She is now waiting for the winner between the Belgian Elise Mertens and the Russian Anna Kalinskaya.

The Greek Maria Sakkari, world number 6 and tenth in the race, also assured that she was still looking for a place in the final. Coming off of two debut eliminations, Sakkari ended the negative streak by beating Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk by a double 6/4. Her next rival could be the American Danielle Collins or the Polish Magdalena Frech.

Damas y caballeros, victory of @CaroGarcia 🇬🇧 in the last match of the course! @WTA | @WTA_Spanish #WTA #GDLOPENAKRON #WTA1000 #We are 1000 pic.twitter.com/sznh6JZJjs

— GDL OPEN AKRON WTA1000 (@WTAGuadalajara) October 19, 2022

Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, sixth in the race for the finals and number 10 in the standings, also took an important step towards qualifying for the top-eight tournament. She won a close match against Canadian Rebecca Marino 6/7 (2-7), 6/3 and 7/6 (7-5) after 2:39 of the match.

In a game with wide server dominance, Marino managed to draw 24 aces to Garcia’s 13. The match featured only three service breaks, two for the Frenchwoman and one for the Canadian. In the round of 16, Garcia will face the winner between Belinda Bencic and Sloane Stephens.