Andreescu, Auger-Aliassime continue winning starts to grass-court season

Canadians are thriving early in this grass-court season.

Bianca Andreescu notched another win on Thursday, defeating New Zealander and No. 7 seed Lulu Sun 6-0, 6-4 in the second round of the Libema Open.

Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ont., defended all four break points she faced while breaking Sun four times on seven chances. She will next take on Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania on Friday.

Ruse advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Canada’s Carson Branstine, who upset top seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia on Wednesday to pick up her first career main-draw win at the WTA Tour level.

Thursday’s match marked Andreescu and Sun’s first head-to-head matchup on the WTA Tour.

Andreescu previously beat Taiwan’s Joanna Garland 6-1, 6-3 in the Round of 32.

Last month in the French Open, Andreescu failed to get past the qualifiers. With Thursday’s victory, she has now earned six main-draw wins in 2025.

Meanwhile, Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime moved on to the quarterfinals of the Boss Open in Stuttgart, Germany, with a 6-4, 6-4 win over France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

Auger-Aliassime, seeded fourth in Stuttgart, converted three of four break-point chances in the comfortable win. He will next face 17-year-old German wild-card Justin Engel on Friday.

–with files from The Canadian Press