BIANCA Andreescu made her return at the Internationaux de Strasbourg Round of 32 and did not skip a beat, leading the charge as all four seeds reigned supreme in an intriguing day on the clay.

For Andreescu, this win was a long time coming after putting her season on pause since March – and the full 15 months before that – and the top seed did not disappoint as she executed a speedy 6-1 6-2 victory over Spaniard Andrea Lazaro Garcia in 61 minutes. Intriguingly, this match marked just Andreescu’s second WTA Tour level clay court win, but she starred against the qualifier with an excellent 84 per cent win rate off a 75.6 per cent clip. She was joined in the second round by all three of the the day;s remaining seeds in Zhang Shuai, Yulia Putintseva and Barbora Krejcikova, with the last technically completing the quickest win of the day by default as a 55 minute matchup with Oceane Dodin was cut short by the Frenchwoman’s injury retirement.

Zhang claimed the win over Japanese talent Misaki Doi in one hour and 40 minutes, while Putintseva took part in one of just two three setters for the day, tested by Swede Rebecca Peterson before eventually taking out the 6-4 3-6 7-6 victory in a whopping three hours and 20 minutes. The second three-setter played out between Romanian Sorana Cirstea and Venus Williams, with the former claiming her first victory over Williams from three prior outings, overcoming a showy second set from the former champion to reign supreme 6-1 2-6 6-1 in just one hour and 45 minutes.

All three remaining matches for the day were decided fairly comprehensively, as Belgian Maryna Zanevska claimed the next quickest result of the day over Belarusian Yuliya Hatouka, completing the 6-2 6-1 sweep in jut 57 minutes. Frenchwoman Carolina Garcia overcame a tight start to take the win over Kazakh Zarina Diyas, whilst Jil Teichmann also joined the winners list with a 6-2 6-3 victory over Anna Blinkova.

INTERNATIONAUX DE STRASBOURG ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[1] Bianca Andreescu (CAN) defeated Andrea Lazaro Garcia (ESP) 6-1 6-2
[4] Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) defeated Rebecca Peterson (SWE) 6-4 3-6 7-6
[5] Barbora Krejcikova (CZE) defeated Oceane Dodin (FRA) 6-3 3-0 RET
[6] Zhang Shuai (CHN) defeated Misaki Doi (JPN) 7-5 6-4
Maryna Zanevska (BEL) defeated Yuliya Hatouka (BLR) 6-2 6-1
Jil Teichmann (SUI) defeated Anna Blinkova (RUS) 6-2 6-3
Caroline Garcia (FRA) defeated Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 7-5 6-2
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) defeated Venus Williams (USA) 6-1 2-6 6-1

Picture credit: Internationaux de Strasbourg/C’est qui Maurice?/Michel Grasso