Branca Andreescu, the emerging tennis star whose effusive personality and hard-nosed play lit up Canada’s collective consciousness late in the summer of 2019, when she won both the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the U.S. Open in New York, appears ready and willing to make her return to competition in January.
Last December she won the Lou Marsh Trophy as Canadian athlete of the year, but has not played a match since suffering a knee injury during the WTA finals in China just over a year ago.
This past winter she hinted that she was preparing to return to play but called the plans off because of the COVID-19 pandemic and to confinue to recover from injuries that have sometimes stalled her progress.
In September she announced she did not plan to play the rest of this year.
Gregory Strong of The Canadian Press reports that Andreescu plans to play the so-called ‘Australian Swing’ of the professional women’s tour.
“Being away from the court for so long has not been easy for me but I am excited to share that I will be returning to the court in 2021, starting with the Australian swing and the Australian Open,” Andreescu said.
“I am feeling really good about the progress I’ve made during my time off, and I’m ready to get back to competing and doing what I love.”
A tearful Bianca Andreescu speaks to coach Sylvain Bruneau about an injured left knee that forced her to retire from Wednesday’s match against Karolina Pliskova following a 6-3 first-set loss at the WTA Finals in China. She has not played a tournament since. (Getty Images/Matthew Stockman)
A spokesperson at the Octagon agency, who provided an email with the quote from Andreescu to CP, said a decision on tournament entries for the swing had not been made.
The first Grand Slam of the 2021 campaign, the Australian Open, is set to begin Jan. 18 at Melbourne Park.
Dates for other tournaments down under have yet to be finalized because of COVID-19.
Andreescu is currently ranked No. 7 in the world and is training in Monte Carlo, where she bought a home last year.
With files from The Canadian Press (Gregory Strong), CBC, RCI
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