There was faint hope that Bianca Andreescu might finally return in Paris. But on Saturday, she was stricken from the entry list. (Instagram)
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The photos, posted on Instagram account a few days ago, certainly offered a little hope that the 2019 US Open champion might resume her career on the clay in Paris in 10 days.
But it turned out to be just another false alarm.
Bianca Andreescu has withdrawn from Roland Garros, as she has from every tournament she tried to play this season.
She joins world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and her US Open successor (and predecessor Naomi Osaka on the sidelines for the final major of the season.
There has been no announcement so far from either Andreescu or her management.
The 20-year-old has now been off the courts since the end of Oct. 2019, when she retired from her second match at the WTA Tour Finals in Shenzhen, China.
“Going to be tight” was too tight
Andreescu’s coach Sylvain Bruneau, in interviews with Canadian media 10 days ago, intimated that this year’s Roland Garros might be “too tight” in terms of her return to play.
Shortly after that, Andreescu pulled out of this week’s tournament in Rome.
And on Saturday, from the French Open.
A year ago, Andreescu had been off the courts since retiring during her fourth-round match at the Miami Open – and managed to return in Paris.
After winning a first-round match against Marie Bouzkova that stretched over two days, she withdrew.
And then, she didn’t play until the Rogers Cup in August – and won it.
After last year’s US Open triumph, Andreescu played one tournament in Beijing. And then the abbreviated effort in Shenzhen. And not since.
Little tennis for nearly two years
It’s astonishing how little tennis she has played over the last two seasons because of injury – first the knee, and then this spring another undisclosed injury that set her back.
She remains at No. 6 in the rankings because her points from Indian Wells, Miami, Toronto and the US Open will remain on her resumé because of the special pandemic ranking arrangements.
When will Andreescu return? Good question
After Roland Garros, there are almost no tournament available for her to even play.
This week, the Kremlin Cup in Moscow was cancelled. All that remains officially on the schedule is the brand-new event in Ostrava, Czech Republic next month.
Also still possible is the Linz WTA event, rescheduled to November or early December. But that has not yet been confirmed.
That the Canadian is missed, for her personality and her tennis, is an understatement.
About Post Author
I’m 63, I’ve been a big sports fan all my life. I’ve seen them all, the great pitchers, the great hitters, quarterbacks, running backs, heavyweight fighters you name it. This girl is my favorite athlete of all time. Watching her play brings me tremendous happiness. When she injured her meniscus in that October tournament it was very foolish and irresponsible to let her continue playing. I pray for her return to full health, life is just not the same without being able to see her on the court. It’s been really depressing not being able to see her out there. There are few bright spots in the world these days…she is certainly one the brightest.
Thanks for this article (and your work more generally — your site is one of the best tennis source globally and is of course unmatched for Canadian content). The Andreescu injuries situation is quite worrisome for a few reasons (i) injuries keep piling up, (ii) her recovery seems very slow, (iii) she seems to always be from week to week and get out of tournaments at the last minute in succession, which begs the question whether her recovery is in good hands (if you are week to week, that should not drag on for months). I know it is always tricky to comment on player’s health but I am wondering if you could shed some light on the situation. Is it that they are very cautious or that her injuries are more serious than implied by the “week to week” characterization?
There’s a lot to what you say.
I would point out one thing, though: players who think they have ANY shot at playing an event will enter them all – and pull out of them on a week-to-week basis when it turns out they’re not ready to go. It’s definitely not that unusual. I mean, Kei Nishikori did it for eons over the last year. She pulled out of the French Open 10 days before the start, so it’s not last minute.
One thing her coach said recently (and it seems like he’s pretty muzzled on that score) is that “she won’t come back until she’s 100% because she’s not going to go to a tournament and hope to get through a few rounds” (I’m paraphrasing).
Perhaps she did this at the Rogers Cup last year. But now, she’s hardly played in two years. And to think she “wouldn’t play a tournament” because she can’t win it is not the right way to think about it. (Of course, they didn’t consult me).
To me – it would be key that she play ANY tournament from now until the end of the year – just to get her feet wet and back in the game. Because it’s been almost a year off the court now.
Assuming it wouldn’t re-aggravate or worsen the injury, of course. It’s unlikely she’s going to have the fitness or the match toughness at this stage to run the table (and that’s no knock on her, just the reality). So why make that the standard?
But I suspect there’s more to it.