FILE PHOTO: Tennis - Italian Open - Foro Italico, Rome, Italy - May 12, 2025 Canada's Bianca Andreescu in action during her round of 16 match against China's Zheng Qinwen REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo
(Reuters) -Bianca Andreescu and second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova both kicked off their grasscourt campaigns with solid first-round wins at the Libema Open in Den Bosch, as rain caused significant delays throughout Tuesday's second day of play.
Andreescu eased past Taiwan's Joanna Garland 6-1 6-3 as the 24-year-old Canadian put on a strong performance without facing a single break point and secured victory in 74 minutes.
The former U.S. Open champion, who missed out on qualifying for Roland Garros, will next face New Zealand's Lulu Sun.
Alexandrova advanced to the second round with a composed 6-3 6-4 win over Georgia's Mariam Bolkvadze, despite a lengthy rain delay disrupting the first set.
The Russian returned from the interruption unfazed, taking control from the baseline and racing to a 5-2 lead in the second set.
After being broken while serving for the match and facing another break point in her next service game, Alexandrova regained her composure to close out the win and set up an all-Russian second-round showdown with Anna Blinkova.
The match between defending champion Liudmila Samsonova and Canada's qualifier Carson Branstine was tied at one set apiece before the game was suspended due to darkness.
Branstine had stunned top seed Samsonova by taking the first set 6-4 before the Russian levelled the match by winning the second 7-5. Play will resume on Wednesday.
In the men's draw, American Reilly Opelka also overcame several rain delays to see off local favourite Jesper de Jong with a hard-fought 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 6-2 victory.
Several matches had to be postponed to Wednesday due to rain, including Polish fifth seed Hubert Hurkacz against Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut, Briton Daniel Evans against Australia's Rinky Hijikata, and Greece's Maria Sakkari taking on Dutch wildcard Anouk Koevermans.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico CityEditing by Christian Radnedge)
