Canada's Andreescu earns spot in Australian Open main draw
Fellow Canadian Polansky fails to clinch berth after loss in final qualifying match
Bianca Andreescu has followed up her wins last week over defending Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki and seven-time major winner Venus Williams by qualifying for the season's first Grand Slam tournament.
The 18-year-old Canadian would like to follow it up with another win over a big-name player — like No. 1 Simona Halep or Serena Williams.
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First things first, though. After beating Tereza Smitkova on Friday to earn a spot in the main draw of a major for only the second time — her first was at Wimbledon in 2017 — Andreescu ended up with a first-round match against American wild-card entry Whitney Osuigwe, who finished last year ranked No. 226.
They're in the same half as Halep and seven-time Australian Open champion Serena Williams, but in the lower quarter.
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"With what happened last week, I think I can get pretty far into next week," said Andreescu, who was leading 6-0, 4-1 when Smitkova retired with an injury. "And I'm just using momentum from last week. Hopefully I can do that next week as well.
"I think I used it pretty well in the qualifying matches, so I'm really pleased."
Earlier Friday, Canadian Peter Polansky lost his third and final qualifying match.