MELBOURNE – Bianca Andreescu traces the path that brought her back to the tennis tour after a mental break – and brought her back to the victory column on Monday thanks to the blow against a seeded opponent the Australian Open — for what she calls an “aha moment” on a beach in Costa Rica during a spiritual retreat almost a year ago.
This is how the 22-year-old Canadian described this revelation in an interview with The Associated Press at Melbourne Park: “I should practice the sport and use it as a platform to inspire others.”
Andreescu, who defeated Serena Williams the final of the US Open 2019 had a series of health issues as a teenager, including contracting COVID-19, which derailed her career in 2020 and also slowed her down in 2021. She also split from her longtime coach. All in all, it was busy – after beating No. 25 Marie Bouzkova 6-2, 6-4 on Court 3 on Monday, Andreescu used the word ‘frantic’ to describe that time – and she went six Months without playing a match from October 2021 to April 2022, including sitting out last year’s Australian Open.
“That’s when I started asking myself: Is it worth it? Is this life worth it? Because I was very stressed with a lot of things: people in my life; how I looked at myself in the mirror,” said Andreescu. “Just holding a tennis racket didn’t make me feel happy anymore. Or content. Because usually my escape is to go onto the pitch – and it’s stopped feeling like that.
She realized she needed to reevaluate where she was and where she was going.
“Do I keep pushing and pushing and hoping for the best? Or am I taking a step back? So that’s what I did. I paused. And I’ve done other things outside of tennis. I’ve done a lot of charity work. I have traveled to a few places. Hanging out with friends I hadn’t hung out with in two or three years. I started playing soccer again. I went ice skating. I started martial arts. I danced. A bunch of other things. And it really made me appreciate tennis even more,” Andreescu said with a big smile. “I honestly didn’t know when I would pick up a racquet again.”
During her time in Costa Rica last February, Andreescu found a new mindset.
“I felt a lot better in 2022 than I did in 2021 when I was feeling so discouraged after losses,” she said. “Now I just want to get back on the pitch. I feel very motivated.”
Certainly that seemed to be the case against Bouzkova, a US Open quarterfinalist last year.
Andreescu mixed up her shots and overwhelmed her opponent when she opted for big cuts on groundstrokes.
“Just didn’t give me much room to breathe and kinda got my swing going,” Bouzkova said.
Andreescu said she felt a mixture of nervousness and relief at the end of Monday because she was desperate to win.
Which she did and will now meet Cristina Bucsa of Spain in 100th position as the journey continues.
“I like to say what my mom always says to me: ‘Follow your heart.’ That’s what I did. I have a strong intuition I would say and I feel like a lot of other people. So trust your gut,” Andreescu said, pointing to her heart with her interlocked fingers. “If you don’t feel good about something for a while — I haven’t felt good for two or three months — I would say that you should take a step back if you can.”
BIG STEP FOR CHINA’S MEN
Teen qualifier Shang Juncheng became the first Chinese to win a main draw match at the Australian Open in the pro era, beating Germany’s Oscar Otte 6-2 6-4 6-7(2) 7-5 .
“I think it’s huge for Chinese men’s tennis,” said 17-year-old Shang, who has 34 wins. “We had really good women’s players but not really big names in men.”
Shang added, “Hopefully we can do something big in the future.”
Shang, the 2021 US Open Juniors runner-up, is the first 17-year-old to win his first Grand Slam match since Carlos Alcaraz, currently ranked No. 1, made it at the Australian Open two years ago.
“It’s quite a feat,” Shang said. “If you look up to Carlos, he is the best player in the world right now. Seeing him play on the pitch really inspires me, inspires the young, young players.”
China placed three men in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
Wu Yibing lost his first-round match against France’s Corentin Moutet on Monday. Zhang Zhizhen is playing American Ben Shelton on Tuesday.
WATCH BILLS
Jessica Pegula prepared for her first-round win at the Australian Open by watching on TV Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins 34-31 in their opening game of the NFL playoffs.
The No. 3 seed Pegula, whose parents own the Bills and the NHL Sabers, said she woke up at 7am Monday in Melbourne – which was 3pm in New York on Sunday – and had most of the second half watched before going on to defeat Jacqueline Cristian 6-0, 6-1 at Margaret Court Arena.
“It was a tough game. Not the nicest win,” Pegula said of the Bills. “Definitely an ugly win I think.”
“It’s like the first game, playoffs, everyone’s kind of nervous, a lot of excitement,” she added, comparing it to the nervousness before a first match at a Grand Slam tournament.
“They obviously enjoyed getting that win before I went on the pitch,” said Pegula. “It wouldn’t have really affected me, I don’t think, but I would have just been upset that they lost.”
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Associated Press freelance contributor Simon Cambers contributed to this report.
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