Andreescu cruises, Pliskova rallies to advance at Roland-Garros qualifying

Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu and former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova were among the early winners in first-round action on a rain-interrupted Tuesday at French Open qualifying.

Andreescu, ranked No. 160 in the WTA PIF Rankings, scored a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over French teen Daphnee Mpetshi Perricard. She will next face Slovakia’s Viktoria Hruncakova as she attempts to reach the main draw in Paris for the sixth time in her career.

Pliskova, a semifinalist in Paris in 2017, recovered from a slow start to beat South Korea’s Ku Yeon-woo 0-6, 6-3, 6-1. The Czech, seeded No. 20 this week, was ranked outside the top 1,000 at the start of the season after leg injuries kept her sidelined for most of last year. She entered the week having won 13 of her previous 19 matches on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, including quarterfinal appearances in Linz and Madrid. She will next face Spain’s Marina Bassols Ribera as she attempts to reach the main draw in Paris for the 14th time in the last 15 years.

Third-seeded American Ashlyn Krueger also advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 win over French wild card Margaux Rouvroy. Another American, former US Open junior champion Robin Montgomery, moved on with a 6-1, 7-5 win over 31st seed Maddison Inglis while fifth seed Lulu Sun, a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist, rallied past China’s Ma Ye-Xin 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Eighteen-year-old Czech Laura Samson, the youngest direct entrant in the qualifying draw, was defeated in a hard-fought three-set battle by Argentina’s Julia Riera 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-1 in 2 hours, 41 minutes. Another 18-year-old Jeline Vandromme, last year’s US Open junior champion who was making her Grand Slam qualifying debut, was beaten 7-5, 7-5 by Japan’s Aoi Ito.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Serbian Teodora Kostovic moved on with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Elizabeth Mandlik.