Andreescu takes grass season opener despite struggles holding serve in Berlin

Canadian tennis player Bianca Andreescu won her first grass-court match of the season with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Katerina Siniakova in first-round action Monday at the Bett1Open.

Andreescu came through in a match where both players had trouble holding serve.

The native of Mississauga, Ont., who turns 22 on Thursday, broke Siniakova seven times on 11 chances, while Siniakova was slightly less opportunistic with six successful breaks on 13 chances.

Andreescu will face another Czech player, fourth seed Karolina Pliskova, in the second round.

Andreescu is playing in the tournament as a warm-up for Wimbledon, which starts June 27 at the All England Club in London. Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, has never progressed past the first round of the grass-court Grand Slam.