Bianca Andreescu says she hopes to be a regular fixture on the Tour for a ‘long time’ after suffering her latest injury-related setback.
The former US Open champion was forced to retire during the final of the Miami Open after hurting her foot during the second set. Adreescu was playing in only her third tournament after a year-long absence from the sport due to a knee injury, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being only 20, she has already been blighted by various physical issues in her young career.
Concerning her latest injury, Andreescu admitted that she was reluctant to quit the final but did so based on previous advice from her team. The concern was that if she continued it could aggravate the issue and lead to a more serious injury.
“I really didn’t want to stop but Abdul, my fitness trainer, basically saved me from myself in a way,” She explained.
“I have been through that, just continuously pushing myself and to the point where I’d make it worse. I said, I don’t want to. But I trusted him. I knew it was the best decision.”
It was visible in Miami how frustrated the world No.9 was with her misfortunes as she started to cry on court. Andreescu is a player not afraid to show her emotions regardless of what her opponent does across the court. Something she believes makes her a better player.
“I’m definitely the type of person to wear her emotions on her sleeve. I’m not afraid of that,” Andreescu admits. “To me, it’s more of a strength because I’m being who I am. I’m not afraid to show that. I think that shows a lot of people that they can do the same because a lot of the times people say, ‘Oh, if you show your emotions it’s a weakness.’ But to me it’s not. It’s how I express myself. I’m a very expressive person. It’s helped me win.”
Despite her Miami misfortunes, she does have plenty of positives to take away. Including wins over Amanda Anisimova, Garbine Muguruza and Maria Sakkari. The run to the final will also elevate her to sixth in the WTA rankings when they are updated on Monday.
The next test for the Canadian will be the clay. A surface where she is yet to play a WTA Final on. Andreescu has only played one tournament on the clay over the past two years which was at the 2019 French Open.
“I love playing on clay. I feel very strong compared to last on clay this season,” she stated. “I’ve been putting a lot of work in, and that showed this week (in Miami) so I want to continue to do that. Hopefully I can do very well.”
Andreescu has won nine out of 12 matches played so far this season.
