Canada's Bianca Andreescu cruises to win in French Open qualifiers
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PARIS — Canada's Bianca Andreescu cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 win over China's Xinxin Yao on Monday in women's singles action in the French Open qualifiers.
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The Mississauga, Ont., native broke on six of her 10 opportunities and won 74 per cent of her first-serve points.
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Andreescu's counterpart only won 26 per cent of her first-serve points and had no break point chances.
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Fellow Mississauga, Ont., native Marina Stakusic was also victorious in her qualifiers match.
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Stakusic defeated American Lauren Davis 6-4, 6-4. The 20-year-old Stakusic broke on eight of her 17 chances, while surrendering five break points on eight opportunities to her opponent.
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Canadian Carson Branstine also won, topping American Whitney Osuigwe 6-4, 6-2.
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Laval, Que., native Alexis Galarneau is set to compete on the men's side against France's Matteo Martineau.
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Last week, in an interview with The Canadian Press, Andreescu admitted that she felt a sense of urgency regarding her tennis career.
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After years of battling injuries and attempting comeback after comeback, the 2019 U.S. Open champion knew she needed to make drastic changes to one day return to the top of the tennis world.
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'This is in a way maybe my last chance,' she said of her latest return. 'I don't want to waste any time.'
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Andreescu is enjoying some success on the court again following yet another lengthy absence from the WTA Tour.
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What began as a short-term break in December stretched into nearly six months off after she underwent emergency appendix surgery in February.
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Now the 24-year-old is back with a whole lot of new — from her racket to her coach to her diet.
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Antonio Fernandez Cantisano, originally Andreescu's physiotherapist, is her hitting partner and 'all-in-one' coach after a split with J.T. Nishimura.
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She's also overhauled her nutrition, going gluten- and dairy-free, and embracing elements of bestselling author David Asprey's 'Bulletproof Diet,' including cutting out high-oxalate vegetables like spinach and kale.
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'I was never a heavy drinker or anything,' she said in a phone interview from Rome. 'I was always a social drinker, like I'll have a glass of wine here for certain events.
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