By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday May 11, 2025
Is Bianca Andreescu back? Yes would be the best answer to that question. Even better: she never left.
Whatever the case, the Canadian is returning to form after returning to the tour last month on Rouen, France where she played her first tennis in six months. Andreescu, who missed the time due to personal reasons and later an emergency Appendectomy, lost three of her first four matches, but she has hit the dirt running in Rome, reeling off back-to-back wins against Top-20 players for the first time since 2022.
On Tuesday in Rome, when she faces eighth-seeded Zheng Qinwen of China, Andreescu will try to make it three consecutive wins against the Top 20 at the same event since she won her maiden Grand Slam title as a teenager in 2019.
A win would also propel Andreescu, who is playing Rome on a protected ranking, back into the Top 100 for the first time since August of 2023.
Is Andreescu, now 24, feeling the pressure? Far from it.
Bianca Andreescu 🇨🇦 is a win away from returning to the Top 100 after upsetting former champion Elena Rybakina in Rome.“I don’t think I’ve ever changed the rhythm as much as I did today.”https://t.co/jttf9shTsH
— TENNIS (@Tennis) May 11, 2025
“I was off for quite some time, but I had a better mentality going into that break than maybe three years ago,” Andreescu told David Kane of Tennis.com. “I’m learning more about myself, which I think is super important and what life is all about. Sometimes I can get too much in my head with these things, and I might feel that time is against me, but I have to realize I’m still only 24. I do see all these youngsters starting to do well, and in a way I can put myself in their shoes.
“I just have to be patient because I can still be 10 years on tour if I want. So, I’m trying not to put too much pressure on myself.”
It’s great to hear Andreescu, who has dealt with a spate of injuries ever since her breakout season in 2019, taking the long view and focusing on mental and physical health.
Sunday’s win over 11th-ranked Elena Rybakina, just two weeks after falling to the Kazakhstani in straight sets in Madrid, was a real eye opener, and proof that she’s improving at a rapid clip. She also took out World No.19 Donna Vekic in the second round. In the round of 16, she’ll face Zheng for the second time, after falling to the Chinese in three sets in Toronto in 2022.
Andreescu, who switched to a new racquet – Yonex Ezone 98 – this year, is also working with a new coach (She rehired coach Antonio Fernandez Cantisano) and incorporating a strict gluten-free and dairy-free diet.
Perhaps those changes will lead to more consistency on the court for the former World No.4.
