Canada's Andreescu, Branstine advance to final round of U.S. Open qualifying

Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 women's champion, and fellow Canadian Carson Branstine won their matches Wednesday to advance to the final round of U.S. Open qualifying.

Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., picked up a 6-0, 6-3 win over Ukraine's Veronika Podrez in the second round of the women's singles qualifying tournament.

The 26-year-old Canadian broke her opponent five times on 12 chances to set up a match Thursday with either Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia or Guiomar Maristany of Spain.

Branstine posted a 6-4, 7-5 win over Czechia's Linda Fruhvirtova.

The 25-year-old dual citizen, who was born in California but represents her mother's home country, converted all five of her break-point chances and hit 22 winners to Fruhvirtova's eight.

Branstine will face Robin Montgomery of the United States on Thursday for one of the remaining main-draw spots up for grabs.

Andreescu made history at the 2019 U.S. Open when she became the only Canadian to win a singles Grand Slam, defeating the legendary Serena Williams in the final.

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She last appeared at the tournament in 2024, losing to Maria Sakkari in the first round.

Branstine lost in the first round of qualifying at last year's U.S. Open. She made her Grand Slam debut earlier in 2025 when she came out of qualifying at Wimbledon, beating friend and occasional doubles partner Andreescu in the process.

In other second-round qualifying Wednesday, Vancouver veteran Rebecca Marino fell 6-2, 6-4 to Russia's Elena Pridankina.

In men's second-round qualifying action, Alexis Galarneau of Levis, Que., lost 7-6 (3), 6-2 to Czechia's Dalibor Svrcina. Liam Draxl of Newmarket, Ont., met American Andrew Johnson later Wednesday.