Canada's Branstine stuns Boisson in Wimbledon qualifying
Published
Updated
LONDON - Carson Branstine upset top seed Lois Boisson on Tuesday as several Canadians moved to the second round of the Wimbledon women's qualifying tournament.
Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., also won her first-round qualifying match against Brazil's Laura Pigossi and will next face Branstine on Wednesday. The two Canadians recently re-established a doubles partnership after teaming up to win the girls' doubles title at the 2017 Australian Open.
Rising star Victoria Mboko of Toronto was also a winner Tuesday while Kayla Cross of London, Ont., lost her first-round match. Later, Vancouver's Rebecca Marino faced Gabriela Knutson of Czechia.
Branstine, from California but representing Canada on the world stage, won 81 per cent of her first-serve points and broke Boisson five times on eight chances in a 6-2, 6-7 (1), 6-4 victory.
Boisson became an overnight sensation in her native France after a stunning run to the semifinals of the clay-court French Open. The 22-year-old saw her ranking skyrocket 296 places to No. 65.
But she was not offered a wild-card into the Wimbledon main draw, and her bid to appear in a second straight Grand Slam ended early.
Branstine opened her grass-court season with her first career WTA Tour-level main draw win earlier this month at the Libema Open at 's-Hertogenbosh, Netherlands.
Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion and a former world No. 4, faced little opposition in her match Tuesday, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Andreescu overcame 20 unforced errors by breaking Pigossi five times on 10 chances while defending the only two break points she faced.
Mboko, seeded sixth in qualifying, came back from a set down to post a 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Japanese veteran Nao Hibino.
The 18-year-old improved her record this year to 43-6, with most of those wins coming on the lower-tier ITF World Tennis Tour circuit.
She made her Grand Slam debut at the French Open, where she advanced to the third round after qualifying for the main draw.
Cross couldn't build on a strong opening set against Romanian veteran Patricia Tig in a 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4 loss. The 20-year-old Cross also lost to Tig in the first round of French Open qualifying.