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Bianca Andreescu of Canada serves in the Women’s Singles group match against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on Day four of the 2019 WTA Finals at Shenzhen Bay Sports Center on October 30, 2019 in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
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Bianca Andreescu of Canada serves in the Women’s Singles group match against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on Day four of the 2019 WTA Finals at Shenzhen Bay Sports Center on October 30, 2019 in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Canadian tennis star Bianca Andreescu has said that she doesn’t know how it would feel to play her first match after a considerable time away from the game.
The 2019 US Open champion, who holds the distinction of beating Serena Williams twice that year – at the Flushing Meadows and the Canadian Open – pulled out of the WTA 500 event earlier this week and will make her comeback at the Australian Open.
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Bianca Andreescu has been out of tennis since October 2019
The current World Number 8, who hasn’t had a match under her belt since October 2019 on account of injuries and the lockdown, had entered the WTA event leading up to the Major as the top seed; however, she withdrew from the event on Monday to avoid the “risk” of rushing back into action after a hard quarantine.
.@Bandreescu_ on her first match back: “Obviously not playing for a long time, I don’t know how I’m going to feel. But I don’t feel like I have too much pressure.
"Yeah I’m seeded but I just want to go out there and have the mindset that I’m so goddamn grateful to be out there." pic.twitter.com/EQ7yjttWhG
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) February 5, 2021
Citing the need to prepare herself for the physical challenges and grueling battles at the Australian Open, Andreescu said, “I made some mistakes in the past from that and I learnt from it.”
Though she hasn’t had a proper feel of a tennis court for over a year now, Andreescu said she doesn’t feel she will be under any kind of pressure going into the Australian Open.
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Bianca Andreescu of Canada plays Angelique Kerber of Germany during the women’s final of the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Andreescu says she’d go into Australian Open feeling “grateful to be out there”
“I don’t know how I’m going to feel (playing her first match on return). But I don’t feel like I have too much pressure,” the Canadian said.
She said that she won’t feel the weight of being seeded in the tournament and will go there with the mindset that she is “so goddamn grateful to be out there”.
On being forced on the sidelines with injuries at a time when she was on a great run of form, the Canadian said she isn’t willing to dwell too much on her “bad days”.
She said she only focuses on “the things” that she can control.
A total of 72 players were forced into strict lockdown restrictions without the option of practice after some crew members in their chartered flights tested positive for COVID-19.
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After talking with Tennis Australia, the WTA decided to hold the Grampian’s Trophy only for players returning to action after being subjected to strict lockdown rules.
