Andreescu rallies for comeback victory

Canadian teen Bianca Andreescu posted yet another dramatic victory.

In her first match since winning the BNP Paribas Open title Sunday, the 18-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., rallied for a 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-2 win over Irina-camelia Begu of Romania.

Andreescu was trailing 5-1 in the second set before winning five straight games — fighting off match point in the process — and then dominating the tiebreak.

Andreescu broke Begu in the first game of the third set and held on from there. The same sort of resilience was on display in her last two matches in Indian Wells, Calif.: three-set upsets over Elina Svitolina and Angelique Kerber.

Andreescu, now ranked 24th in the world, also beat the 70thranked Begu in the first round at Indian Wells.

Begu broke Andreescu in the first game of Thursday’s match and appeared to be headed to a convincing victory.

Instead Andreescu is now 29-3 on the campaign.

The match was supposed to be played Wednesday night on centre court, but was postponed because of rain and moved to a smaller court Thursday.

Fans took notice of Andreescu’s rise, packing the stands. Andreescu will face No. 32 Sofia Kenin of the United States in the second round.

On the men’s side, Canadian qualifier Felix Auger-aliassime rallied for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 win over fellow qualifier Casper Ruud of Norway in a first-round match.

The 18-year-old from Montreal notched six breaks after a slow start and won 78 per cent of his points on first serve compared with just 62 per cent for Ruud.

Auger-aliassime has improved his ranking to 57th in the world, but still had to qualify because his ranking wasn’t high enough.

The Canadian will face Marton Fucsovics of Hungary in the second round.

Auger-aliassime will be joined in the second round by No. 12 Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and No. 20 Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., who received first-round byes.