Former Bad Homburg Open finalist Bianca Andreescu lost to Anna Blinkova in her first match back at the WTA 500 event.
Unfortunately, the Canadian player has gained a reputation for being extremely streaky in recent years. She doesn’t have that consistency that powered her to the US Open trophy years ago, at least not at all events.
Sometimes, she does play very strong and consistent tennis, like at the Libema Open, where she bested Naomi Osaka en route to the final. She couldn’t win the trophy, but it was important for her to finally play a good event.
Other times, she can lose to players whom she could beat if she just found a bit more consistency. Her performances and results can be just too inconsistent, and so was her match in Bad Homburg.
Blinkova is not a player who should trouble her on any surface, but she certainly did in their first-round match in the German city. The opening set started with an early break for the Russian, which was not an ideal start for the former major winner.
It gave Blinkova the confidence to really relax and just play the match. Andreescu broke back midway through the set but then lost her serve once more. This time around, Blinkova kept her composure and closed out the opening set, winning it 6-4.
The second set once again opened with an early break for Blinkova, who then fended off multiple break points on her own serve. After securing a 2-0 lead, she used some more of Andreescu’s up-and-down play to take another break and lead 3-0.
That was a call for the Canadian as she pulled one break back, making it 1-3. In the following couple of games, Blinkova was able to keep her lead, and in the end, the Russian was able to win the match 6-4, 6-2 and reach the second round at the 2024 Bad Homburg Open.
