Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, will take a hiatus from tennis to attend to her mental health and will not play the tournaments at the start of next season, including the Australian Open, announcing on Monday that she wants “a readjustment , bounce back and grow ”after two challenging years that included contracting COVID-19.
The 21-year-old Canadian posted on Twitter that she has been mentally and physically affected by “the multiple weeks of isolation in quarantine” and that the weeks her grandmother spent in the intensive care unit for coronavirus “really affected me.”
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“Many days I didn’t feel like myself, especially when I was training or playing. I felt like I was carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders, ”Andreescu acknowledged. “I couldn’t separate myself from everything that was happening off the pitch, I felt a general sadness and the shock really caused problems.”
Andreescu joins other professional athletes who have cited the need to take time out of competition to recover mentally – including Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and former world number one. Osaka took a hiatus after dropping out of the French Open in May and again after losing at the US Open in September and missing the rest of the season.
Andreescu was 19 when he capped off a successful season after beating his idol Serena Williams in the US Open final two years ago. Soon after, the Canadian placed 4th in the WTA rankings, the highest she has ever reached in her career.
But in October 2019, the meniscus in his left knee was torn and he was out of the Tour for about 15 months.
Andreescu returned to action this year with the Australian Open, where Williams offered his analysis: “He has a bright future. She is really young and incredibly mature. I have always said that its light is very bright. He really has a good game to keep winning Grand Slams. “
The Canadian won her first match in Melbourne and lost in the second round. He finished 4-4 in Grand Slam tournaments in 2021, including reaching the fourth round in the United States and losing in the first round at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
This was part of a 17-12 record on the Tour this season, in which he did not win a title. He will start 2022 in 46th place.
In April, he reported that he had tested positive for COVID-19. And in June she announced that she would no longer be trained by Sylvain Bruneau after four years together.
What Andreescu did not make clear on Monday is when he will return to the courts.
“I want to give myself enough time to readjust, recover and grow from this (as cliché as it may sound) and continue to inspire with charity work, giving back to the community and working on myself because I know that by doing this, I will come back stronger. than ever ”, he published. “Therefore, I will not start the season in Australia this year, but will take some additional time to reflect, train and get ready for the next 2022 tennis season.”
