'Really weird coincidence' - Bianca Andreescu plays down Emma Raducanu parallels ahead of Italian Open match

Updated 10/05/2022 at 09:30 GMT

Bianca Andreescu and Emma Raducanu both won the US Open as teenagers, both have Romanian parentage and were both born in Ontario, Canada. They are set to meet for the first time in their career in the first round of the Italian Open on Tuesday. Andreescu says she is "expecting a really good match" while Raducanu has recalled her memories of watching the Canadian win in New York.

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Bianca Andreescu says the parallels between herself and Emma Raducanu are a “really weird coincidence” as they prepare to meet in the first round of the Italian Open.

Both players won their first Grand Slam title at the US Open as teenagers – Andreescu as a 19-year-old in 2019 and Raducanu as an 18-year-old in 2021.

They also both have Romanian parentage (Andreescu's mother and father are Romanian, as is Raducanu's father) and were both born in Ontario, Canada.

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Andreescu and Raducanu have also both faced various challenges to stay at the top of the game after making their breakthroughs in New York.

"I've thought about the parallels, but I don't go crazy," said Andreescu ahead of meeting Raducanu for the first time on Tuesday.

“It's just a really weird coincidence."

Andreescu beat Serena Williams in the 2019 US Open final to deny the American a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.

Raducanu was 16 years old at the time and remembers watching the tournament.

"I thought Bianca was playing incredibly well. I think her physicality is one of her strengths, how good she is moving, how low she stays," she said.

“I think that's really cool. And probably something I can learn from myself.”

Raducanu has shown some promising signs over the last month as she won her first professional match on clay and also won two matches at both the Stuttgart Open and Madrid Open.

She has been hampered by several injuries this year and is “managing” a back issue ahead of the Italian Open.

Andreescu, who returned to the WTA Tour in Stuttgart after a break, says she expects a “really good match”.

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"I watched her win the US Open, and I was really happy for her because I won it basically around her age," she said.

"Obviously, she was playing a Canadian [Leylah Fernandez], so that was really nice too. She's a really great player, so I'm expecting a really good match. I remember saying, 'I want to play her,' and it looks like I got my wish."

Andreescu has not won another title since the 2019 US Open, struggling with injury issues and also the demands placed on her.

She revealed last month that she had come close to quitting tennis and felt her career was going “down the drain”. She took a break earlier this year to go on a retreat in Costa Rica and also volunteered at a domestic violence shelter.

At the Madrid Open, where she won two matches before losing to eventual runner-up Jessica Pegula, Andreescu revealed that she has changed her perspective on tennis.

“Tennis is just a platform that I love, now I love it again, to basically help and contribute to a better world in a way. That's kind of how I'm viewing tennis," she said.

“I'm not identifying myself with the sport anymore, because I felt like last year, if I lost, I hated myself. If I won, it was like the best thing ever. Last year, I was losing way more than I was winning, I think. I don't know exactly my record.

“I was in the right place, but now I'm viewing tennis as just another opportunity to get better as a person and it's something I'm passionate about, so I want to enjoy myself out there."

The winner of the first-round match between Andreescu and Raducanu will face either Nuria Parrizas Diaz or Sara Sorribes Tormo next.

Lucky loser Parrizas Diaz replaced four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka who withdrew from the tournament with an ankle injury.

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