Andreescu makes early exit in Abu Dhabi
Bianca Andreescu fell to Yulia Putintseva in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Open after making a swift return to action.
Andreescu, who has not won a title since her 2019 US Open success, looked to have returned to form at last week's Thailand Open, only to suffer an injury that forced her to quit her semi-final against Lesia Tsurenko while trailing in the second set.
The Canadian did not alter her schedule, however, and was back out on court to face Putintseva on Tuesday.
Despite twice leading by a break in the opening set, there was no repeat run to the latter stages for Andreescu, who went down 7-6 (7-2) 6-2.
"I think the first set was a really physical set, we played really, really tough rallies," Putintseva said. "I was feeling a little bit more confident in the second set."
Andreescu's compatriot Leylah Fernandez was also eliminated, losing to Shelby Rogers, but both seeds in action – Beatriz Haddad Maia and Liudmila Samsonova – advanced, along with Barbora Krejcikova and Karolina Pliskova.
At the Linz Open, top seed Maria Sakkari headed through with a 6-1 7-6 (8-6) defeat of Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, but number two seed Ekaterina Alexandrova went down to Rebeka Masarova in three sets.
