Even in 2019, amid her remarkable rise, Bianca Andreescu’s availability was a constant question.
That was the year she gained the prestigious Indian Wells tournament, the Rogers Cup on home soil and became the first Canadian to ever win a singles major title at the U.S. Open.
In between, she played just five matches. After the U.S. Open, a left knee injury knocked her out of the season-ending WTA Finals in November.
It was over 500 days before Andreescu would play again. She was upset in the second round of the Australian Open last month and lost in the fourth round of a follow-up tournament.
The 20-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., then revealed she would miss the next three tournaments for health reasons. Here we go again?
“Physically it showed that she had all those matches under her belt and quite a few were close and long three-setters … but it’s not a situation where her injuries resurfaced or new injury surfaced,” stated Andreescu’s coach, Sylvain Bruneau.
Andreescu’s prolonged absence was not solely based on injury.
Bruneau said in March the plan was for her to return for the Miami Open — until WTA play was suspended due to concerns over COVID-19.
Even with her return on the horizon, Andreescu was stuck in a Melbourne hotel room for two weeks after Bruneau contracted the virus. Other players were allowed out of quarantine for training ahead of the Grand Slam.
“The most important thing for me was that she was able to play those two matches at the Australian Open and then four more [in] the tournament right after and get the confirmation that the old injuries were behind us,” Bruneau said.
Bruneau says those matches met his expectations for Andreescu. Her movement “was not perfect,” but there was reason for hope. There were times she arrived at the ball on time and balanced, and other times Bruneau noticed she was reaching.
Neither Bruneau nor Carillo expect Andreescu to immediately regain her dominance, instead stressing that it takes time after such a long layoff.
“She is clearly somebody who can win multiple majors, but the length of time she spent suffering from one injury after another reminded me of Juan Martin Del Potro,” Carillo said.
