EASTBOURNE, United Kingdom - Canada's Bianca Andreescu is heading to the second round of the Viking International.

The third-seeded Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., beat American Christine McHale 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the first round of the WTA Tour 500 grass-court tournament on Tuesday.

It marked Andreescu's first career WTA Tour main-draw victory on a grass court.

Andreescu won 68 per cent of points when she got her first serve in against the 96th-ranked McHale and saved four of eight break points.

It was the seventh-ranked Andreescu's first win in her past three tournaments.

The Canadian will face Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the second round of the Wimbledon tune-up event.

In the men's draw, Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil defeated British wild-card James Ward 6-4, 6-4.

Pospisil had nine aces and won 91 per cent of first-serve points while saving the only break point he faced. He broke Ward once on three chances.

Pospisil will face sixth-seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain in the second round.

Also Tuesday, Brayden Schnur of Pickering, Ont., beat Toronto's Steven Diez 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in a Wimbledon first-round qualifying match. Schnur needs two more wins to advance to the main draw.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 22, 2021.