Bianca Andreescu ready to play her best tennis after loss in Madrid

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Bianca Andreescu and her team aren’t dwelling on her loss in Madrid last week, her first match since she suffered a frightening ankle injury on court last month in Miami.

The loss was disappointing, but the ankle held up, her team says, during Friday’s three-hour match at the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid, and after. The Canadian tennis star – ranked No. 27 – had won the first set handily before world No. 65 Xiyu Wang of China charged back to send her packing, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Andreescu remained in Madrid to keep training after that loss and plans to play next week in the 1000-level event in Rome, where she made the quarter-finals last year.

It’s been a challenging road since the Mississauga native won the 2019 U.S. Open and soared to a career-high ranking of No. 4 that year. Injuries, the pandemic, and a six-month stretch away from competition to focus on her mental health all had her away from the tour at various times. Now the 22-year-old is back.

“It would be nice to get back into the top 10, win another Grand Slam and other tournaments,” Andreescu said by phone from Madrid. “But I just want to go on the court and have fun, play my best tennis, and give it my all. If I stay in the present moment, not think too far ahead, I know that I can accomplish my ultimate goal – to become world No. 1, and win multiple Grand Slams.”

Andreescu is relieved at how well she recovered after tearing two tendons in her left ankle on March 27. She rolled it while attempting to run down a ball in her fourth-round match in Miami against Ekaterina Alexandrova. She collapsed, screaming in pain.

The Canadian called it the worst pain she’d ever experienced and feared a much worse diagnosis as she left the court in a wheelchair. But she was only away from training for about a week.

Andreescu chronicled her recovery in self-made videos posted on TikTok. They covered everything from her post-match hospital visit, to scuttling around in a walking boot, killing time with Netflix while cradling Coco her toy poodle, and easing back onto her feet by strolling at the water’s edge of Miami’s sandy beaches. She documented the tedious foot exercises, the first day back on a treadmill, and her return to the practice court, as she smeared away tears with her T-shirt while bellowing out “I’m so happy.”

She said ankle-strengthening exercises will remain part of her daily regimen, which also includes ice, heat therapy and stretching out while wearing full-leg lymphatic-drainage boots. She travels everywhere with the boots, which inflate with air and provide compression to help her recover more quickly between workouts.

“I have to travel with another suitcase,” she said with a laugh. “But hey, I’m investing in my health.”

Andreescu built a new team for this season after parting ways with coach Sven Groeneveld in November. Baptiste Bardey is her fitness coach, and Jean-Pierre Bruyere acts as physio. She has hitting partner J.T. Nishimura, and tennis coach Christophe Lambert, a native of France, who had also coached her when she was a young teen while he was working with junior players at Tennis Canada.

“I feel like my team right now, I’ve never gotten along this well with a group,” Andreescu said. “It just feels really good. There’s a lot of camaraderie and fun trash talk. They all bring such lighthearted, warm, funny and outgoing feelings for me on the court. That’s not something I always had.”

Her support team engages her in lively – and sometimes silly – contests to set a positive vibe and get the competitive juices flowing before they start serious tennis work. Before one practice this week Andreescu and team played a fiery game of Spikeball. Four of them noisily competed at the popular volleyball-like backyard game in which players bounce a small ball off a circular springy net on the ground.

“When I worked with her 10 years ago, I was telling her to get to sleep or do her homework, and I was the boss. Now she’s my boss,” Lambert said in a phone interview this week. “When she asked me to come back I said yes because I really enjoy working with her on the court. She’s got this talent, which is rare.”

Lambert, who left a position as high-performance director with Tennis New Zealand to take the job with Andreescu, said he thinks she thrives in a family like atmosphere. The coach says her mental perseverance through the ankle injury has impressed him, and she’s also done well lately not to overanalyze things.

“Mentally I find her the best I’ve seen since we started working together,” Lambert said. “She’s been positive and proactive. She had the injury and was struggling with that, but her reaction has been ‘okay, what’s next? What do I need to do to get better’, instead of ‘Oh, my God, why me?’”

Andreescu says she battled the fear of reinjuring the ankle as she returned to court. She has long practised visualization and meditation, but she has further leaned into her mental strength and wellness in recent seasons. She said she also enjoyed other quiet activities for herself during this latest ankle recovery in Miami, such as cooking and hot yoga.

Tennis Canada is set to announce that Andreescu will again be an ambassador for its Mental Timeout initiative, as she was in 2022 when it launched before the National Bank Open. The organization’s wellness program enters its second year, with insurance company Beneva as a lead sponsor, and two more Canadian players as ambassadors – ATP newcomer Alexis Galarneau, and the country’s top-ranked wheelchair player, Rob Shaw. The initiative aims to improve the well-being of tennis players and make it less taboo to discuss mental-health issues in sports, such as anxiety, depression, and the pressures of competition.

“Being an ambassador for something like this helps me be a voice in the conversation around mental health in sport,” Andreescu said. “I feel like the mental side is No. 1 and everything starts in your head. You can be the fittest person ever, have amazing tactics, but if you can’t handle the pressure, or face injuries, rehab and recovery, then none of that other stuff matters.”

Ankle injury aside, her 2023 season has had bright spots, too. Those include the highly entertaining tie-break she played with world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at Indian Wells; her comeback win over Garbine Muguruza in Adelaide; and victories in Miami over Sofia Kenin, Emma Raducanu and Maria Sakkari.

“I’m still only 22 years old, and I feel like I still have so much more to learn about myself and my game,” she said. “Who knows what I’m going to be in like in two or three years, even in the next six months.”