Andreescu scores first WTA victory of 2026 with victory in Charleston debut – Tennis Now
By Eric Guderis Tuesday, March 31, 2026
Photo credit: Katelyn Mulcahy/Credit One Charleston Open
Bianca Andreescu is enjoying her first visit to the South Carolina Lowcountry and earning her first tour-level win in nearly a year.
The 25-year-old Andreescu received a wild card to the Credit One Charleston Open and defeated the Hungarian team with a score of 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. Dalma Galfi in their first-round matchup.
With the win, the Canadian star and former U.S. Open champion notched her first tour-level victory since defeating Barbora Krejcikova in Montreal last July.
After the match, Andreescu was asked what she was most pleased with about the match, as it was her first tour win in a while.
“I think at the end of the day, hard work is all that matters to me, and if I gave it my best that day, which I think I did, that’s all that matters,” Andreescu said. “Just try my best here and then intention, that’s what I talk about every day with my coach, and if I can do those two things, then winning or losing doesn’t matter to me, I just have to be happy with that.”
Andreescu, currently ranked 140th in the world, has struggled over the past few years due to various injuries including a stress fracture in his back and ankle problems. After opting out of the Australian Open earlier this year, Andreescu opted to compete in several ITF events to hone his skills.
“I wanted to do it in 2024 (after a long hiatus from the tour) but I guess we can say my ego got in the way of that,” Andreescu earlier told the WTA about her decision to compete on the ITF Tour. “I decided that maybe it was time to put that aside and really get what I’ve always needed, which is competition. I think there’s never a guarantee that you’re going to get a lot of competition and the level of the ITF Tour is huge. They’re competing for a lot of things.”
Andreescu, competing in her first WTA 500 event, is familiar with world No. 84 Galfi, whom she lost to in Austin earlier this season. Although Andreescu struggled in the first set, she found her footing on the green clay of Charleston late in the second set, where she saved a key break point to take a 4-3 lead.
After winning the second set, Andreescu broke serve early and took complete control of the deciding set. After that, Andreescu broke Galfi in four of his last five service games to win in three sets.
Andreescu’s next opponent is another former Grand Slam champion – last year’s Charleston finalist and Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
“She’s a tough competitor, yeah, we’ve played against her a lot, and it’s never an easy match, so I’m definitely not expecting anything easy,” Andreescu said of Kenin, who leads 4-1 in head-to-head meetings. “She’s a Grand Slam champion, so I think it’s going to be a really exciting match, and I think it’s going to be fun for the fans to watch.”
