Andreescu: 'There was a time when I lost my joy in tennis. But I found it again'
Published
Canadian tennis star Bianca Andreescu wrote a piece in the Players' Tribune Wednesday titled "I Found My Joy in Tennis Again and Wrote This Article About It :)".
Andreescu is set to take part in the US Open, which starts Sunday, five years after winning the tournament in 2019 for her lone career Grand Slam title.
The Mississauga, Ont. native wrote in the piece that the injuries and struggles on the court since her major title had an impact on her mental health and feelings on the game, leading her to take an indefinite break from tennis during the 2021 season, which wound up being six months.
Due to injury, Andreescu was away from the game for nearly 10 months before returning at Roland-Garros in May of this year. The comeback path has seen her reach the third round at both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon this year, improving her ranking from 228 in the WTA upon her return to 169 this week.
The 24-year-old reached the final of the Libema Open in June and won her opening match at the Paris Olympics before falling to eventual silver medallist Donna Vekic in the Round of 32.
Andreescu remains a long shot to reclaim her US Open title this month, but she's not ready to rule anything out.
"There was a time when I lost my joy in tennis. But I found it again," Andreescu wrote Wednesday. "And I learned that I will always love tennis deep in my heart, no matter what. It has given me so much.
"So much that whenever I leave the tunnel and step out onto the court, I always feel a bit of that magic from before. I still think that anything is possible."