Bianca Andreescu feeling 'way less pressure' as she turns focus to 'bigger picture' at San Diego Open
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Published 12/10/2022 at 09:00 GMT
Bianca Andreescu has had a difficult few years on the WTA Tour but looked in good touch in her opening match at the San Diego Open as she beat in-form Liudmila Samsonova in three sets. Andreescu won the US Open in 2019 and after injury issues and mental health challenges says she is now putting "way less pressure" on herself and is thinking about "long-term" ambitions.
'I dare to dream' - Djokovic on being 'very grateful and blessed' to still play at highest level
Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu says her comeback this season is going better than expected and she is feeling "way less pressure" than before.
Andreescu, 22, enjoyed a breakout year in 2019 when she won Indian Wells and then beat Serena Williams in the final of the US Open. She was the first teenage Grand Slam singles champion since Maria Sharapova in 2006 and hit No. 4 in the world rankings.
But over the last few seasons, she has struggled to stay on court due to a combination of injuries, Covid-19 issues and mental health challenges.
After losing at Indian Wells in the autumn of 2021 she took a six-month break to help her recover physically and mentally, spending time at a retreat in Costa Rica.
Although she has not yet hit 2019 heights this season, she is satisfied with the way the year has panned out after beating in-form Liudmila Samsonova at the San Diego Open.
"I think I'm doing better than I expected," she said. "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."
Andreescu is 17-10 this season with her best result coming in Bad Homburg where she made the final.
Andreescu created 15 break points against Samsonova, who had won 18 of her last 19 matches and was bidding for a fourth title in five tournaments to help her qualify for the WTA Finals.
Andreescu was up by a set and a break before Samsonova hit back to force a decider. But Andreescu broke early in the third set and went on to secure a hard-fought victory after two hours and 38 minutes.
“The match was very tight and it could have gone either way,” said Andreescu, who has slipped down to No. 57 in the WTA rankings.
“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.”
Andreescu was playing her first tournament since making the third round of the US Open and could next face Coco Gauff in the last 16.
After San Diego, she is planning to play the last WTA 1000 of the season in Guadalajara followed by a WTA 125 in Tampico during the week of the WTA Finals. She will then play for Canada at the Billie Jean King Cup in November.
"After the US Open I took a few days, maybe a week in Costa Rica, my happy place," Andreescu told WTA Insider.
"I didn't play any tournaments, I've just been training.
"I just wanted to have a longer pre-season in a way, instead of just playing tournaments.
“I wanted to get some good training in because this summer was a little bit all over the place, with my back and some other things. So I didn't want to go all the way to Europe and then come back here because the goal is to play Guadalajara and I didn't want to do too much travelling."
Gauff faces fellow American teenager Robin Montgomery in her opening match in San Diego. Gauff is the sixth seed at the tournament, with world No. 1 Iga Swiatek leading the field.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
Advertisement
Advertisement