Andreescu sets out for second Grand Slam title on familiar grounds at U.S. Open
4 months after returning to motion from an prolonged break, Canadian tennis star Bianca Andreescu says her confidence is peaking heading into the ultimate Grand Slam of the season.
The Mississauga, Ont., native enters this yr’s U.S. Open, the place she received her lone profession Grand Slam in 2019, after a brief however profitable keep on the latest Nationwide Financial institution Open.
“I do know that I can beat any participant on tour proper now,” Andreescu stated forward of the event’s primary draw, which begins Monday in New York. “I simply actually should set my thoughts to it and simply be in the appropriate headspace to be trustworthy. Like, I actually imagine in myself, in my capabilities. My largest problem is unquestionably myself proper now.
“I undoubtedly really feel extra assured proper now than I’ve this complete yr, which is so superior for me to say as a result of final yr I used to be struggling quite a bit with that. So, coming into this hardcourt swing, I am feeling so significantly better.”
The 22-year-old Andreescu entered the Nationwide Financial institution Open in Toronto, an occasion she additionally received in 2019, having recovered from decrease again ache she handled on the Mubadala Silicon Valley Basic in San Jose, Calif.
Though her again did not give her issues in Toronto, the necessity for restoration time minimize into Andreescu’s preparation. Then she bumped into a unique difficulty in her first-round win over then-No. 9 Daria Kasatkina.
Within the 2 1/2 hour two-set win, Andreescu stated “she was seeing double” through the tiebreaker within the first spherical and “felt actually dizzy.” She was in a position to push via and stated she hoped to construct on her perseverance.
After following with a win over France’s Alize Cornet, Andreescu finally fell to China’s Zheng Qinwen within the third spherical.
“While you play larger ranked gamers and also you do effectively in opposition to them, contemplating my rating proper now, (it) undoubtedly helps,” stated Andreescu, who’s at the moment ranked fiftieth on the planet. “I imply, Daria Kasatkina, she simply got here off a win (within the Mubadala Silicon Valley Basic) and he or she had a number of momentum coming into (the) event. So, clinching that with the whole lot I used to be going via through the match simply confirmed me the place my degree is at proper now and what I can accomplish.
“Even like my matches in opposition to Alize too. I misplaced to her twice and that was the third time we performed, so it was form of good to form of like get my revenge in a method. And clearly, my opponent after that, she performed rather well. I clinched that second, set so it simply exhibits the place my preventing spirit’s at and I am very proud of it.”
Along with her again ache behind her, Andreescu has her eyes set on claiming her second Grand Slam.
“I undoubtedly need to win the event, no questions requested. Each event I am going into, I need to win it,” she stated. “However there’s clearly a course of that goes earlier than that, and that is me having fun with myself on the market. Simply giving 100 per cent, getting ready in the easiest way that I can and simply preventing till the tip and by no means giving up. These are like the principle issues for me and staying wholesome.”
Andreescu has made strides all through the season, rising 71 spots within the rankings since her season debut on the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in April. That was her first event since she introduced in December 2021 that she was taking a break from the game to work on her psychological and bodily well-being.
She is going to open the principle draw in opposition to world No. 111 Concord Tan on Monday. Andreescu might face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, a finalist earlier this month on the Nationwide Financial institution Open, within the second spherical.
Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino may also compete within the girls’s primary draw.
Fernandez was a finalist within the 2021 U.S. Open, falling to Toronto-born Emma Raducanu, of Britain. The 19-year-old opens in opposition to France’s Oceane Dodin. Marino will tackle Poland’s Magdalena Frech in her first-round match.
On the boys’s facet, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov would be the lone Canadians after Vasek Pospisil fell in his second-round qualifying match on Thursday to Andreas Seppi.
Auger-Aliassime, who’s slated to face a qualifier but to be decided, is the second-highest seed in his quarter at No. 6 behind world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. The 2 might meet within the fourth spherical.
Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., seeded nineteenth, opens in opposition to Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler and will face ninth seed Andrey Rublev within the third spherical.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Aug. 26, 2022.
Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
