Andreescu, Fernandez advance at Italian Open, Shapovalov, Mboko eliminated

Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, hits a return to Ashlyn Krueger, during the Miami Open tennis tournament, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Miami Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

ROME — Canadians Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu are through to the third round of the WTA 1000 Italian Open tennis tournament with wins on Friday.

Fernandez, from Laval, Que., easily advanced in the women’s draw, downing Croatian Antonia Ruzic 6-4, 6-0 in a second-round match.

Fernandez, the 24th seed, was five-of-eight on break points in the contest.

Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ont., downed 20th seed Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

Vekic didn’t do herself any favours with 11 double faults (Andreescu had four) and had a first-serve percentage of just 46 per cent.

Fernandez will face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the third round, while Andreescu will meet 11th seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

Rybakina hasn’t dropped a set in three previous meetings with Andreescu, including a win in the second round of the Madrid Open last month.

Meanwhile, Victoria Mboko of Burlington, Ont., and Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., lost their matches Friday.

Lithuania’s Vilius Gaubus upset 27th-seedShapovalov in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Shapovalov had issues with his serve. The Canadian did have four aces -- Gaubus had none -- but also double-faulted nine times, compared to just twice for his opponent.

And Gaubus had a first-serve percentage of 78 per cent, compared to 53 per cent for Shapovalov. The Lithuanian converted on three-of-six break attempts -- the last giving him a 5-4 advantage in the second set.

Shapovalov had seven break opportunities but only converted one.

Mboko started very well in her match with American Coco Gauff, winning the first set 6-3. But the fourth-seeded Gauff came back to win the remaining two sets 6-2, 6-1.

The 18-year-old Canadian is one of the rising stars in women’s tennis and has a record of 33-4 this season playing primarily on the lower-tier ITF World Tennis Tour.

Mboko ended last year ranked No. 350 but entered Rome ranked No. 156.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 9, 2025.