Top-seeded Bianca Andreescu needed just 61 minutes on Monday to post a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Spanish qualifier Andrea Lazaro Garcia in the first round of the Internationaux de Strasbourg in France.
The Canadian won 83.9 percent of her first-serve points while winning in her first match since losing to Australia’s Ashleigh Barty in the Miami Open final on April 3. Andreescu next faces Belgium’s Maryna Zanevska, who defeated Yuliya Hatouka of Belarus 6-2, 6-1 in a battle of qualifiers.
Among other matches, Romania’s Sorana Cirstea dispatched American Venus Williams 6-1, 2-6, 6-1. Cirstea will face sixth-seeded Shuai Zhang of China after the latter posted a 7-5, 6-4 triumph over Japan’s Misaki Doi.
Fourth-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan recorded a 6-4, 3-7, 7-6 (2) victory over Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson. Putintseva next meets Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann, who beat Russia’s Anna Blinkova 6-2, 6-3.
Fifth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic won 6-3, 3-0 when France’s Oceane Dodin retired due to adductor pain. Krejcikova will meet France’s Caroline Garcia, who prevailed 7-5, 6-2 over Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.
