Andreescu defeats Haddad Maia, earns Garcia rematch at US Open

NEW YORK - 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu

View Profile advanced to the third round of the US Open after defeating No.15 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia

View Profile 6-2, 6-4 to close out Day 3. Unseeded and ranked No.48, the 22-year-old Canadian put in a vintage performance to set up an exciting third-round clash with France's Caroline Garcia

View Profile . 

Coming off an up-and-down three-set win over Harmony Tan

View Profile in the first round, Andreescu played a physical and disciplined match to defeat the surging Brazilian. Haddad Maia has been in fantastic form during the summer, winning back-to-back titles in Nottingham and Birmingham and making the biggest final of her career in Toronto. She earned her first main-draw win at the US Open in the first round with a dominating 6-0, 6-0 win over Ana Konjuh. 

"I actually like playing these tougher opponents because I think I'm more on my A-game when I play higher ranked players, which is a good tendency but also a bad tendency because I want to be like that with whoever I play," Andreescu said. "And I also like to have tough draws because I feel like the victory is much sweeter in the end. Like, let's say I win the tournament and I have a tougher draw. I really like that."

Andreescu's champion's mettle was on display in their first meeting at the tour level. She went unbroken in the match, saving all five break points she faced while breaking Haddad Maia three times. In the first set, she fired just three unforced errors. She finished the match with a tidy 11 winners to 14 unforced errors, while Haddad Maia hit 20 winners to 30 unforced errors. 

"I know that she's been doing really well so I knew I had to bring my A-game today. If I didn't it could have gone differently. I was in a very positive mind frame and I fought until the end. I know the second set was a bit tighter but I hung in there and I'm really happy." 

Having beaten the player with the second-most wins since the start of July, Andreescu will now face the winningest: Cincinnati champion Garcia. Ranked No.18, Garcia extended her winning streak to 10 matches with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Anna Kalinskaya

View Profile . Into the third round at the US Open for the fifth time in her career, Garcia is bidding to make the Round of 16 for the first time in New York. 

"It's a great challenge," Garcia said. "It will be a tough match either way and I'm really looking forward to it. We know that the third round in the Slams is a great battle. I need to recover the best way I can, get the confidence from the two first matches and Cincinnati, and go get it."

Friday's showdown will be a rematch of the Bad Homburg final in July. Garcia edged Andreescu on the grass, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, to win the first of her three titles this season. 

"I try to focus on my game, what I like to do, what I want to do," Garcia said. "I think it's the most important. Bianca is an aggressive player, powerful. But my game style is still the same and I want to keep improving on it and it's going to be a great match to do so."