Knee injury could end Andreescu’s year
Canadian star to undergo scan; Svitolina in semis
HONG KONG U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu will have a scan on her injured left knee before deciding whether she’ll continue at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen following her retirement from her match against Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old sustained the injury in the third game of her second round robin meeting and, although she continued to the end of the set with her knee heavily strapped, she retired after sustaining a 6-3 loss.
“I stepped weirdly on a return,” said Andreescu, who lost her opening game against Simona Halep on Monday.
“I heard my knee crack. It kind of went inward. Putting pressure afterwards on it really bothered me. I could barely bend my knee.
“But I fought with the pain as much as I could. At some point an athlete has to say ‘stop’ and just listen to their body. That’s what I did.”
Andreescu took an injury time out that lasted more than eight minutes before returning to action, having won the first two games and looking in good form.
The injury, though, curtailed her movement and she decided to retire after Pliskova sealed the first set with an ace.
“Honestly, I really didn’t know what to do,” she said.
“I’ve fought through pain before, but this was different. It was very acute. But it’s the last tournament of the year. I just told myself, ‘Push it as much as you can. You’re going to have a good break after this.’
“Maybe I could have pushed it more. I don’t know. My team said no. It was good that I stopped. Honestly, I could have kept going. If I did, then I would just be whining on the court. I don’t want that. I’ve done that enough.”
The Canadian right-hander has enjoyed an impressive 2019 season, winning at Indian Wells and Toronto before capturing the U.S. Open title at Flushing Meadows with a straight sets win over Serena Williams in the final.
That form saw her climb to fourth in the world rankings, earning her a berth at the WTA Finals for the first time.
“It’s been amazing,” Andreescu said of her best season since joining the senior ranks in 2017. “I really can’t complain.
“I made history in Canada. I won my first slam. My game just keeps getting better and better.
“The thing with me, though, is that I’m never satisfied. Even looking back at that, I still want to do well right now.
“But I have to look at the positives. Hopefully, I can recover quick after this. Who knows if I can play. We’ll see. If not, then I’m going to have a good pre-season, good off-season, be ready for 2020.”
Meanwhile, defending champion Elina Svitolina qualified for the semifinals, defeating No. 5 seed Simona Halep of Romania 7-5, 6-3.
Svitolina, the No. 8 seed, won her seventh straight match at the season-ending event in one hour, 39 minutes. She became the first competitor to advance out of group play and into the semifinals.
Svitolina got off to a quick start, winning 14 of the first 18 points to jump to a 3-0 lead. But Halep fought back to even the match at 3-3.
The Ukrainian held serve at 6-5 and then broke Halep’s serve at love to win the first set. Halep posted 21 unforced errors in the set — 38 in all in the match to her opponent’s 25.
“I was moving well,” Svitolina said post-match. “I think every player tries to work for that moment when the opponent has no answer. I know that when I’m fit, I can play very good, I can move very good, I have a good defence. It’s about managing attack and defence for me.”
Pliskova, who will meet Halep on Friday in group play for a spot in the final four, said she had sympathy for Andreescu.
“I didn’t know it was really that bad,” the Czech said of the injury. “Of course, I feel sorry for her ... I just felt I’m really in the match. I was ready to fight today, not to give it to her easy.
“Doesn’t matter how bad injured she is, how bad she feels, I just wanted to win, get this victory to keep myself in the tournament, which happened, of course not in the best way.”