Bianca Andreescu, who clinched the women’s title in 2019, and Canadian player Carson Branstine both secured victories on Wednesday to progress to the final round of U.S. Open qualifying matches. Andreescu, hailing from Mississauga, Ontario, achieved a 6-0, 6-3 triumph over Veronika Podrez of Ukraine in the women’s singles qualifying event. The 26-year-old Canadian managed to break her opponent’s serve five times out of 12 opportunities, setting up a match on Thursday against either Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia or Guiomar Maristany from Spain.
Branstine also had a successful outing with a 6-4, 7-5 win against Linda Fruhvirtova from Czechia. The 25-year-old dual citizen, born in California but representing her mother’s homeland, capitalized on all five break-point chances and struck 22 winners compared to Fruhvirtova’s eight. Branstine is now set to face Robin Montgomery of the United States for a chance to secure one of the remaining main-draw positions.
Notably, Andreescu made history at the 2019 U.S. Open by becoming the first Canadian to win a singles Grand Slam title, defeating the iconic Serena Williams in the final. Meanwhile, Branstine faced a first-round exit at last year’s U.S. Open but had a remarkable Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon earlier in 2025, where she defeated her friend and occasional doubles partner Andreescu in the qualifying rounds.
In other second-round qualifying matches on Wednesday, Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino fell short against Russia’s Elena Pridankina with a score of 6-2, 6-4. Switching to the men’s category, Alexis Galarneau from Levis, Quebec, fell to Dalibor Svrcina from Czechia in a 7-6 (3), 6-2 defeat. Liam Draxl from Newmarket, Ontario, was scheduled to compete against American Andrew Johnson later on Wednesday.