Australian Open 2022 - 'I want to give myself extra time to recover and grow' - Bianca Andreescu pulls out of event

Published 06/12/2021 at 18:55 GMT

Andreescu has endured a "challenging" two years since claiming her maiden Grand Slam at the 2019 US Open. The Canadian finished 2021 ranked 46th in the world having sat out the 2020 season due to injury. "I will take some additional time to reflect, train and be ready for the upcoming season," the 21-year-old said.

Bianca Andreescu

Image credit: Getty Images

Bianca Andreescu will miss the 2022 Australian Open.

The 2019 US Open champion has elected not to compete in Melbourne, citing a need to take extra time to "re-set, recover and grow".

The Canadian sat out the 2020 season due to injury and struggled for her best form this year.

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"The last two years have been very challenging for me for a variety of reasons," Andreescu wrote on Twitter. "Especially this year in particular, I spent multiple weeks in isolation quarantining, which affected me greatly - both mentally and physically. In addition, my grandmother spent several weeks in the ICU for a COVID infection, something that really hit me hard.

"A lot of days, I did not feel like myself, especially while I was training and/or playing matches. I felt like I was carrying the world on my shoulders. I could not detach myself from everything that was going on off the court; was feeling the collective sadness and turmoil around and it took its toll on me.

"I want to give myself extra time to re-set, recover, and grow from this [as cliche as that sounds] and continue to inspire by doing charity work, giving back and working on myself because I know by doing this, I will come back stronger than ever.

"I will therefore not start my season in Australia this year, but will take some additional time to reflect, train, and be ready for the upcoming 2022 tennis season."

Since claiming her maiden Grand Slam in New York more than two years ago, Andreescu has struggled to reproduce her best tennis, missing 15 months of competition due to a serious knee injury.

The 21-year-old ended the 2021 season ranked 46th in the world, and hired Sven Groeneveld as her new coach during the summer.

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