LONDON (Reuters) – Bianca Andreescu has yet to find her grasscourt feet as the Canadian fifth seed once again lost in the first round at Wimbledon after being walloped 6-2 6-1 by French nemesis Alize Cornet on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old became the highest women’s seed to perish at this year’s grasscourt major after Cornet capitalised on 34 unforced errors from Andreescu to leave the 2019 U.S. Open champion still searching for her first win at the championships.
Andreescu, who was also beaten by the 58th-ranked Frenchwoman less than two weeks ago on grass in Berlin, struggled to hit anything on target and even luck deserted her on Court Two.
At match point, Cornet mis-hit a lob with her racket at full stretch while she charged across the back of the court and both players were left bemused as the ball clipped the corner of the baseline to end Andreescu’s ordeal.
Cornet will hope her win over the fifth seed gives her the springboard she needs to do well at Wimbledon because in 13 previous appearances, she has only made it as far as the fourth round once.
(Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Ed Osmond)
