Bianca Andreescu saw her journey at the Canadian Open halted in the round of 64, despite a valiant effort. The roadblock is merely part of her return to tennis since her back injury, one which took her out of the sport for ten months.
The injury-hit former world #4 hasn’t played on hard courts since Montreal last year and returned to the sport at the 2024 French Open. On clay in Paris, she defeated Sara Sorribes, and Anna Kalinskaya and advanced to the third round. Her advancement to the third round was an immense credit to her mettle. Her match against Jasmine Paolini saw her reveal glimpses of her pre-injury self. After Paolini took the first set, she upped her level to take the second set 6-3. However, Paolini’s intensity did enough to shake her with the Italian serving her a bagel for the final set.
In the following tournament, however, Andreescu managed to make a much deeper run. At the Libema Open in the Netherlands, the Canadian showed a much gritter version of herself. In her run, she defeated four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinal and went on to become a finalist in the tournament. She stormed through the first set in twenty minutes with lightning-quick aces and strong forehands down the line. Her opponent, Liudmila Samsonova, had other plans. In the final two sets, the Russian was simply too good. Andreescu struggled to maintain her level on serve, and ended up conceding the deciding set. Samsonova took the match 6-4 3-6 5-7.
Still, that raised hopes of a similar run at Wimbledon but she would once again face Paolini. This time Andreescu broke Paolini’s serve in the opening game, and it seemed like the Italian would have an even greater challenge ahead of her. Paolini, however, brought her aggressive play to the forefront, fighting back fiercely. Paolini was vicious, especially at the net, and with Andreescu unable to secure the break, Paolini took the first set. The Canadian’s short off-court break, had Paolini return with even greater focus, winning six consecutive games, and hitting 17 winners. Andreescu’s tennis was well-grounded but not solid enough.
Her run at the Olympics ended similarly. In the second round, she was defeated by Donna Vekic who went on to grab the silver medal. And even though her journey at the Canadian Open came to a premature end too, her potential remains immense, her journey far from over. With her most recent performance, it might be easy to forget she won the tournament back in 2019. She won the first set against Lesia Tsurenko without losing a game, but was unable to maintain that form, losing the match 0-6 6-3 6-4.
“I played some of my best tennis for the first set and a little bit,”Andreescu said. “And then tennis just kicks you right in the butt sometimes.”
It’s certainly easy to expect the same level of tennis she showed at the US Open in 2019. But her injuries seem to have hindered the momentum she once had, but in her comeback, we’ve definitely seen glimpses of the deeply strategic player she is. Her groundstrokes are powerful, her net play more than deft, the Canadian is still on her climb to regain that form.
Main photo credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
