Bianca Andreescu, a Canadian tennis star, believes her confidence is at its best as she prepares for the season’s last Grand Slam. She is returning after four years, making her long-awaited comeback.
After a brief but productive stay at the National Bank Open, the Mississauga, Ontario, native joins the year’s U.S. Open, where she won the Grand Slam of her career in 2019.
Before the tournament’s main draw underway in New York on Monday, Andreescu said, “I know that I can beat any player on tour right now.” “I just really have to set my mind to it and be in the right headspace, to be honest,” she said.
After recovering from lower back pain she experienced during the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, California, the 22-year-old Andreescu competed at the National Bank Open in Toronto, which she also won in 2019.
The necessity for recovery time interfered with Andreescu’s planning even though her back wasn’t an issue in Toronto. After defeating No. 9 Daria Kasatkina in the opening round, she encountered a new problem.
Andreescu says that during the tiebreaker in the first round of the 2 1/2 hour, “she was seeing double” and “felt pretty dizzy.” Nevertheless, she was able to persevere, and she expressed the hope that she would continue to do so.
Andreescu first won against France’s Alize Cornet before losing to China’s Zheng Qinwen in the third round.
Ranking 50th in the world right now, Andreescu stated that it certainly helps when you play with higher-ranked opponents and perform well against them. She uses Daria Kasatkina as an example, as she had a lot of momentum competing after winning the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic.
So, winning that game despite everything I was going through showed me my current level, and what I can accomplish, she added.
Andreescu is focused on winning her second Grand Slam now that she has put her back injury behind her.
Throughout the season, Andreescu has improved, moving up 71 ranks in the rankings since making her debut at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in April. It was her first competition since she said in December 2021 that she quit the sport to focus on her physical and mental health.
On Monday, Harmony Tan, ranked 111th worldwide, will be her opponent in the main draw. Then, in the second round, Andreescu might face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, a National Bank Open finalist, earlier this month.
Canadians competing in the main draw
In the women’s main draw, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Quebec, and Rebecca Marino of Vancouver will also compete.
In the 2021 U.S. Open final, Fernandez lost to British player Emma Raducanu, who was born in Toronto. Oceane Dodin of France will be the 19-year-first old’s opponent. Marino will compete against Magdalena Frech of Poland in her opening round match.
Vasek Pospisil lost to Andreas Seppi in his second-round qualifying match on Thursday, so Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov will be the only Canadians competing on the men’s side.
Behind world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, Auger-Aliassime is ranked No. 6 in his quarter and will play in the qualifier. Then, they can come up against one other in the fourth round.
The 19th seed from Richmond Hill, Ontario, Shapovalov, will play ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the third round after facing Swiss player Marc-Andrea Huesler in the first round.