Canadian Bianca Andreescu loses in semifinals in Melbourne

Canada’s Bianca Andreescu is out of the Phillip Island Trophy after a semifinal loss.

The No. 2 seed from Mississauga, Ont., dropped a 6-7 (9), 6-2, 7-5 decision to No. 13 seed Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic on Friday.

Bouzkova, who improved to 1-2 against Andreescu, will face unseeded Russian Daria Kasatkina in the final of the WTA Tour 250 event.

Bouzkova rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third set, saving two match points en route to the victory.

Andreescu had 52 unforced errors.

Kasatkina beat eighth-seeded American Danielle Collins 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-1 in the other semifinal.

Andreescu, who won the US Open in 2019, is now 4-2 in 2021 after ending a 15-month absence from the tour at the ongoing Australian Open.

The 20-year-old Andreescu entered the new WTA Tour event for early losers at the Australian Open after being ousted in the second round of the Grand Slam last week.

Ranked ninth in the world, Andreescu got a bye in the first round of the Phillip Island Trophy. She then beat 85th-ranked Madison Brengle in the second round, 83rd-ranked Zarina Diyas in the round of 16 and world No. 74 Irina Camelia-Begu in the quarterfinals.

Andreescu is expected to rise to No. 8 when the WTA Tour rankings are updated Monday. She is scheduled to stay in Australia to play in the Adelaide International next week.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2021.

The Canadian Press