“Was More Than a Coach”: Bianca Andreescu Part Ways With Long-Term Coach, Sylvain Bruneau

US Open 2019 champion Bianca Andreescu has announced that she and her long-term coach, Sylvain Bruneau, have parted ways. This comes after Bianca endured a tough first-round exit at French Open 2021.

In her statement, Bianca called Bruneau a mentor and expressed the desire to continue their friendship. Their partnership had lasted four years and notably saw the Canadian lift the US Open trophy in 2019 against Serena Williams.

“It is with a heavy heart that I would like to inform my fans that my long-time coach, mentor, and friend, Sylvain and I, have mutually decided to end our incredible coaching relationship. Our friendship will live forever… it has been an amazing 4 years… I am very grateful for everything we accomplished together and of all our great memories. Sylvain was more than a coach… he is family.”

Who is Sylvain Bruneau and what did he achieve with Bianca Andreescu

Sylvain Bruneau is a former Canadian national coach and the Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup) captain. Under him, Bianca had the breakthrough year in 2019 where she won notably won Indian Wells and US Open. She rose to a career-high number four in the WTA ranking.

After her US Open triumph, Bianca suffered a knee injury in the WTA Finals. From then on, the Canadian has only played 15 matches as more injuries stopped her growth. Before coming to Roland Garros 2021, Bianca had played only three matches on clay as she missed the majority of the clay-court season because of a COVID-19 positive test.

Bianca Andreescu’s abysmal French Open 2021

At French Open 2021, Andreescu was beaten in a 3 hour 20-minute long battle against Tamara Zidansek. The scorecard read – 7-6(1), 6-7(2), 9-7. Obviously, that result was disappointing for a World No.7.

“During these tough moments, like I want to show a good example to a lot of people. It sucks right now for me and I can just right now learn from it, because that’s what life’s all about, you learn from your mistakes. I just want to keep my head up, feel what I feel right now. I might cry a lot tonight, but tomorrow is a new day.”

Now Bianca turns her focus to the grass-court season. She has signed up for any event yet, but first, she will have to sort out her team as well.

Read More: How Can Venus Williams Play Tokyo Olympics 2021 Alongside Serena Williams