Former US Open champion Bianca Andreesu says she is on the right path back to the top of her game after booking a place in the second round of the San Diego Open.
The Canadian didn’t begin her 2022 season until April after taking time away from the sport to focus on her mental health. Since peaking at a ranking high of No.4 back in 2019, Andreescu has also been hampered with a variety of injury issues related to her shoulder, back, knee, abdomen and more.
Despite those setbacks, the 22-year-old has been making steady progress in recent months with a run to the final of the Bad Homburg Open back in June. More recently she reached the third round of both the Canadian Open and US Open. Bringing her current win-loss record for the year to 17-10.
“I think I’m doing better than I expected,” Andreescu told WTA Insider. “I try not to have any expectations going into this season but it’s definitely better than I thought. Taking so much time off, you never know what you’re going to do.”
“For me, this is the bigger picture kind of thinking that I’m doing with my coach. So it’s not short term, it’s more long term. It’s way less pressure.”
After opting to skip tournaments in Europe to focus on training, Andreescu has returned to action this week in the San Diego Open where she managed to enter the main draw with the help of her protected ranking. In her opening match, she outlasted world No.23 Liudmila Samsonova 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-2, after more than two-and-a-half hours of play.
“The match was very tight and it could have gone either way,” Andreescu said. “I felt towards the end I felt I was putting a little bit more pressure that she was and I was a little bit more consistent.”
In her latest match, Andreescu converted five out of her 15 break point opportunities and won 67% of her first service points. She could play sixth seed Coco Gauff in the next round should the American defeat Robin Montgomery in her opening match.
Elsewhere at the tournament, Danielle Collins upset French seventh seed Caroline Garcia 6-2, 7-6(4). This week is the first time the Australian Open finalist has played a tournament since the US Open. She will play Italy’s Martina Trevisan in the next round.
Louisa Chirico will be the first player No.2 seed Paula Badosa plays. The qualifier knocked out Alison Riske-Amritraj 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(5), who is ranked more than 150 places higher than her.
As for top seed Iga Swiatek, she has a bye in the first round and will play her opening match later this week. The Pole faces either Garbine Muguruza or Elena Rybakina who are both Grand Slam champions.
