Andreescu returns with confidence of a champ
STEPHANIE MYLES
NEW YORK— A year ago, ranked outside the top 200, Bianca Andreescu barely squeezed into U.S. Open qualifying. She didn’t advance and missed the next two months with back problems.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga returns as a Rogers Cup champion and No. 15 in the world rankings — a player many think can do some damage in a wide-open women’s field.
“Coming from the win in Toronto, I’m feeling pretty confident,” Andreescu, seeded 15th for the season’s final grand slam, said Friday. “I love playing on hard court. I’m here at the U.S. Open in New York, so this is a moment I have dreamed of.
“I’m really looking forward to whatever will happen these next two weeks.”
Andreescu will play her first match Tuesday against 17-year-old American wild-card Katie Volynets. Other Canadians in action the same day: Brayden Schnur (against No. 29 seed Benoit Paire) and Vasek Pospisil (vs. No. 9 Karen Khachanov), as well as the highly anticipated duel between Denis Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime. On Monday, Milos Raonic will play Nicolas Jarry and Genie Bouchard will try to snap a 10-match losing streak when she faces Anastasija Sevastova.
“We have to forget Toronto and focus on what’s ahead – the grand slam in New York,” Andreescu’s coach Sylvain Bruneau said.
That the teenager was among the 10 players chosen for pretournament press conferences — in her first U.S. Open — is a testament to how much her star has risen.
Three of the other four women selected — defending champion Naomi Osaka, Ashleigh Barty and Simona Halep — won majors this year and have been ranked No. 1. The other, Sloane Stephens, is the last American to win the U.S. Open, two years ago.
The number of fans waiting to watch Andreescu practise Thursday after a long and very hot day was more evidence.
Volynets, 18 months younger than Andreescu, earned her spot by winning the U.S.18-andunder championship and is No. 407 in the rankings. The two have met before, Andreescu winning 6-2, 7-6 (7) in the second round of a small WTA125K event in Newport Beach in late January. Andreescu ended up winning that tournament.
After starting the year with a small support team, Bianca’s Bunch is now a full-fledged platoon: Bruneau, physical trainer Virginie Tremblay, hitting partner Hugo di Feo and new physio/osteopath Kirstin Bauer. In the background are a sports psychologist and a physician.
“The best have a team around them. It makes things a lot easier,” Bruneau said.
Andreescu took time off to address the groin issue that popped up late in her surprising run to the Rogers Cup title. Then it was back to prepping for her first main-draw appearance at the U.S. Open.
“I have prepared very well physically and mentally the last 21⁄ weeks, so I’m feeling fresh,” she said.