Bianca Andreescu says she came close to quitting and career was going 'down the drain' ahead of comeback
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Published 19/04/2022 at 08:05 GMT
Bianca Andreescu burst onto the scene in 2019 when she won Indian Wells, the Canadian Open and the US Open as a teenager. But the last few years have been difficult for the Canadian and she is yet to play on the WTA Tour this season. Ahead of her return in Stuttgart she has spoken about how close she came to leaving tennis and the pressures she felt from all around her.
Bianca Andreescu
Image credit: Getty Images
Bianca Andreescu has revealed she came close to quitting tennis completely ahead of her comeback at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart this week.
Andreescu had a breakthrough year in 2019 as she won Indian Wells, the Canadian Open and the US Open, beating Serena Williams in the final.
But she has battled with injury issues since and has struggled to rediscover her best form. Earlier this year she took a break from tennis due to mental health concerns and spent time at a retreat in Costa Rica.
"I'm being really honest here, but I actually wanted to quit the sport," Andreescu told WTA Insider.
"It was really bad. I am privileged in a way for having this opportunity and doing all of this. Now I'm very grateful, more than ever. So I don't want people to think, 'Oh you're a little baby, just suck it up.' But it was an accumulation of two-and-a-half years. A lot had happened and I just didn't want to deal with anything anymore.
"So I realised that I really do love the sport and I do want to continue, but not just to win Grand Slams, or to do this and that. I want to do something bigger in the sport and I want to help contribute to a better world as well. I realise that tennis is my way toward that."
Andreescu has not played on the WTA Tour this year and has dropped down to No. 121 in the world rankings, having been at a career-high No. 4 after her Flushing Meadows win.
She will face German Jule Niemeier in the first round in Stuttgart.
"I never really felt like I was completely ready [to come back],” said Andreescu.
"I'm not sure that anyone is for sure ready for something. But I just felt like my time off was enough. I kind of got tired and bored of not challenging myself on the court. I really missed that fire that I had competing and pushing myself. So I think that was when I thought it would be good to start playing again."
Andreescu has so far only played three WTA tournaments on clay during her career, winning three matches and retiring with injury twice.
Her best results have come on hard courts, including reaching the final of the Miami Open last season where she lost to Ashleigh Barty.
She says she took a break as she felt her career was heading “down the drain” due to the pressure that was on her each week.
“I think I am patient because I felt like before, I felt so much pressure - not coming from other people, even though that's inevitable - but the pressure I put on myself, it was constant stress on me. I felt like I had to continue putting that pressure on so that I could continue to push myself and push myself.
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Bianca Andreescu won the US Open in 2019
Image credit: Getty Images
“But the whole point of me taking that break was realising that it couldn't be like that. I kind of made a habit out of it and it was very unhealthy. I identified myself too much with my results. If I lost, I hated myself. If I won, I loved myself. Or even if I did win, sometimes I was still hard on myself because I didn't like one game in the match.
“I was very critical and it was very unhealthy. People were telling me this and this and this, and I was absorbing it to the most of my capabilities at the time, but I felt like I was just so closed off from everything. I was in my own world.
“I did feel like I was absorbing what they were telling me, but at the same time, I really wasn't. That wasn't fair to my team, my family, or my friends at all. So I was like, 'Yo, something needs to change because if I continue like this, my career is going to go down the drain.'”
Reflecting on her choice not to play for the first quarter of the season, Andreescu said: "It definitely wasn't an easy decision, but I told myself, 'Look, I've been feeling a certain way for a while now. A month off isn't going to cut it.'
"I spoke to a couple of people that were close to me about it and some professionals as well. It was a collective decision, but at the end of the day, it was my final decision, obviously. But I think it really helped a lot. It really did."
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