For someone currently on a 10-match winning streak at the US Open, Bianca Andreescu has been enjoying an under-the-radar return to New York City. The Canadian became the first player from her country to lift a Grand Slam singles trophy when she won in her 2019 debut, and she has found her way back into the second week after a dominant win over lucky loser Greet Minnen on Saturday.
But this Andreescu looks markedly different from the one that lit up the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with her electrifying shotmaking two years ago.
After struggling with injuries for nearly a year and a half—a shoulder injury sidelined her for half of 2019, while a meniscus tear kept her off the courts for all of 2020—Andreescu returned to action with one mission: just play matches.
The first order of business has been consistency. At the US Open, Andreescu won back-to-back matches for the first time since May, and just the fourth time all year. The Canadian reached the quarterfinals in Strasbourg, semifinals in Melbourne—both WTA 250s—and recorded confidence-boosting wins over Garbine Muguruza and Maria Sakkari en route to the Miami Open final.
“I think it's just match play that I need, really… A lot of it is mental. I haven't played a lot of matches this year. A lot of practice sets and all that, but it's not the same as actually playing in a tournament,” Andreescu reflected after her second-round win. “If I can just keep it going, continue winning, that's really all I need.”
Another big difference? The signature variety in Andreescu’s game has been pared down and simplified.
Whereas in her breakthrough 2019 run to the title, it wasn’t uncommon to see the then-teenager switching up the rhythm in a rally with heavy groundstrokes and moon balls, carving dropshots and slicing the ball, she now takes a much more straightforward route to winning the points: just out-hitting her opponents with clean and powerful groundstrokes.
Part of it is likely the influence of the new face on her coaching team: Sven Groeneveld, the former coach of Maria Sharapova, whom she hired earlier this summer. But another part is an effort on Andreescu’s part to keep things simple on the court as she slowly returns to her world-beating rhythm.
“For me, that game is based a lot on instinct. What I'm working on then is developing that, continuing to develop that,” Andreescu explained after her 6-1, 6-2 rout of Minnen.
“But at the same time, I feel like my mind can be all over the place sometimes. Having, like, three, four things to work on and to focus on during practice, during a match, has really been helping me stay focused throughout the whole thing, from A to Z. It's going well, so I'm not going to change anything.”
“I think it also has to do with the opponents that I played, but also, it's just like gaining my confidence back,” she added. “I think that if I can stick to a simple game plan, then once the match progresses or the tournament progresses, I'll change it up a little bit more. It has a little bit to do with both. But I feel good either way.”
Andreescu, the No. 6 seed, will face a big test ahead as she looks to extend her US Open winning streak to 11 matches. Into the second week at a Grand Slam for just the second time in her career, she will next face No. 17 seed Sakkari, who knocked out two-time Grand Slam winner Petra Kvitova to reach the fourth round.
It will be a rematch of their classic Miami semifinal clash earlier this year. Andreescu needed two tiebreaks and nearly three hours to outlast the Greek 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, and will herself into the championship match.
“I think it's going to be a great match. I'm super excited to play against her. We had a very, very tough match in Miami,” Andreescu recalled. “I'm sure it's going to be the same. It's not going to be easy.
“I kind of know what to expect a little bit, but at the same time I want to go out there not really thinking too much and looking back at our previous match. I want to stay zoned in in the present moment, and whatever she brings my way, I'll be ready.”
No. 6 seed Andreescu will face No. 17 seed Sakkari on Monday in the second match of the Arthur Ashe Stadium night session.
