Bianca Andreescu falls short in Libema Open final | CBC Sports

Canada’s Bianca Andreescu’s search for her first title win since 2019 will continue after a loss in the final of the Libema Open on Sunday in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

The Mississauga, Ont., native lost to Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the championship match of the grass court tune-up tournament ahead of Wimbledon.

Andreescu, with her left thigh heavily taped, took the first set but could not withstand Samsonova’s rally. 

Samsonova, the No. 2 seed, advanced to the final earlier on Sunday after finishing up a rain-delayed match against two-time defending champion Ekaterina Alexandrova.

WATCH | Andreescu advances to final at Libema Open:

This is just the second tournament Andreescu has played in since missing nearly 10 months with a back injury. Since returning to action three weeks ago at the French Open, Andreescu has won six of eight matches.

The 23-year-old Canadian defeated four-time Grand Slam title winner Naomi Osaka of Japan in a quarterfinal matchup on Friday.

Andreescu’s last title win came at the 2019 U.S. Open.

Dabrowski, Routliffe win Nottingham women’s doubles title

Meanwhile, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and teammate Erin Routliffe won the women’s doubles title at the Rothesay Open, another grass-court warmup for Wimbledon.

The top seeds outlasted Britain’s Harriet Dart and Diane Parry of France 5-7, 6-3, 11-9 in the final.

It was the first win of 2024 for Dabrowski and Routliffe, who were the 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champions.

The duo reached the final of the Miami Open in March.

They advanced to the final in Nottingham, England after an earlier straight sets semifinal win over China’s Zhang Shuai and Ashlyn Krueger of the U-S.

The 32-year-old Dabrowski picked up her 16th career victory in women’s doubles and her fifth with Routliffe.

Murray in, Raducanu out for Paris Olympics

Elsewhere, it was announced on Sunday that Andy Murray has been selected to represent Team GB for a fifth Olympics after being included in the squad for the Paris Games.

Murray, who in February signaled his intention to retire later this year, has been granted an ITF place to compete despite his lowly singles ranking of 97 due to being a former grand-slam winner and Olympic gold-medallist.

Team GB was also notified on Thursday that 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu would be in the mix for an ITF place, but she turned down the chance because of the multiple changes in surface over the coming weeks and after only recently returning from a lengthy injury absence.

Murray is one of four male singles players selected by LTA Olympic team leader Iain Bates alongside Jack Draper, Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans, with Katie Boulter the sole female participant for Britain.