Bianca Andreescu, the winner of the 2019 women’s tournament, and Canadian player Carson Branstine both secured victories on Wednesday to progress to the final round of U.S. Open qualifications. Andreescu, hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, triumphed 6-0, 6-3 against Ukraine’s Veronika Podrez in the women’s singles qualifying event. The 26-year-old Canadian managed to break her opponent five times out of 12 opportunities, setting up a match for Thursday against either Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia or Guiomar Maristany from Spain.
On the other hand, Branstine achieved a 6-4, 7-5 win over Czech player Linda Fruhvirtova. The 25-year-old, born in California but representing her mother’s homeland, converted all five of her break points and delivered 22 winners compared to Fruhvirtova’s eight. Branstine is scheduled to face Robin Montgomery from the United States on Thursday for a chance to secure one of the remaining main-draw spots.
Andreescu made history at the 2019 U.S. Open by becoming the first Canadian to win a singles Grand Slam, defeating the renowned Serena Williams in the final. In a previous appearance at the tournament in 2024, she was eliminated in the first round by Maria Sakkari. Meanwhile, Branstine, who was ousted in the qualifying round of the U.S. Open last year, made her Grand Slam debut in 2025 at Wimbledon, where she defeated her friend and occasional doubles partner, Andreescu.
In other second-round qualifying matches on Wednesday, veteran player Rebecca Marino from Vancouver suffered a 6-2, 6-4 defeat against Russia’s Elena Pridankina. In men’s action, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Quebec, lost 7-6 (3), 6-2 to Czech player Dalibor Svrcina, while Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Ontario, took on American Andrew Johnson later in the day.