Andreescu Finds Her Form Against Stearns in Indian Wells

Bianca Andreescu had a stunning game and defeated Peyton Stearns in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells.

Last month hasn't been easy for Andreescu. She played the Thailand Open and reached the semifinals but had to retire in the middle of the match against Lesia Tsurenko. After that, she suffered two first-round losses to Kazakhstan's Yulia Putinsteva and Elena Rybakina. The Canadian entered Indian Wells as the last seed (32th), so she avoided playing the first round and made her debut against American Peyton Stearns.

The 22-year-old American seems ready to start playing high-level tournaments. In the last month, she won two consecutive ITF tournaments and reached the quarterfinals of the ATX Open, as well as winning her first match in California against Spanish Rebeka Masarova. In the first set, both players got breaks in their favor and were neck-and-neck, but Stearns won three games in a row to take the first set 6-4. In the second set, Andreescu began to respond more forcefully to her opponent's serve and took a break to even the match with another 6-4.

The former Indian Wells champion continued with her good form to take the lead 3-0, and Stearns could never come back against the impressive level of the Canadian, who closed out the match with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. In this way, Andreescu arrives exhibiting a high level for her match against the current champion and world No. 1, Iga Swiatek.