Bianca Andreescu and Carson Branstine, both hailing from Canada, emerged victorious in their matches on Wednesday, securing spots in the final round of U.S. Open qualifying. Andreescu, representing Mississauga, Ont., triumphed over Veronika Podrez from Ukraine with a score of 6-0, 6-3 in the second round of the women’s singles qualifying tournament. The 26-year-old Canadian managed to break her opponent’s serve five times out of 12 opportunities, setting up a match against either Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia or Guiomar Maristany from Spain on Thursday.
On the other hand, Branstine achieved a 6-4, 7-5 victory against Linda Fruhvirtova from Czechia. The 25-year-old, a dual citizen born in California but representing her mother’s homeland, capitalized on all five break-point chances and delivered 22 winners compared to Fruhvirtova’s eight. Branstine is now set to face Robin Montgomery from the United States on Thursday for a chance to secure one of the remaining main-draw positions.
In a historic moment, Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open women’s singles champion, made headlines by becoming the first Canadian to claim a singles Grand Slam title after defeating the iconic Serena Williams in the final. She had last participated in the tournament in 2024, exiting in the first round with a loss to Maria Sakkari.
Contrastingly, Branstine faced a first-round exit in the previous year’s U.S. Open qualifying. Her Grand Slam debut occurred earlier in 2025 at Wimbledon, where she advanced through qualifying, notably defeating her friend and occasional doubles partner, Andreescu, along the way.
In other second-round qualifying matches on Wednesday, Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino fell short with a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Russia’s Elena Pridankina. Moving to the men’s event, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Que., suffered a defeat of 7-6 (3), 6-2 against Dalibor Svrcina from Czechia, while Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Ont., faced American Andrew Johnson later in the day.