Bianca Andreescu has fallen. The former US Open champion is currently ranked 111 after a totally lost 2020 and except for a final at Miami Open, an otherwise dismal 2021.
But the former top five player is just 21 year old and there should be plenty of magical tennis left in her body. Yesterday Bibi scored one of her best results in a very long time, a 61 61 steamroll of world no. 8 Danielle Collins at Madrid Open. It was Andreescu’s fourth match of 2022.
“I knew I had to put on a very good performance because she’s been doing very well recently; I did not expect for it to go like that at all. But I stuck to my gameplan and it worked.
“What I did well today is, I stayed in the present moment and told myself it’s not over til it’s over, even at 6-1, 4-1. She started hitting the ball harder and sometimes it would go in, sometimes it wouldn’t. But what she did was very smart because that in turn put pressure on me. If I didn’t hold my ground she probably would’ve gotten back into the match. It’s quite a big court, so it’s easy to step back. But I had that mentality of staying in the court.”
Bibi aims to rediscover and regain the form that helped her win the 2019 US Open vs Serena Williams.
“I’ve been trying to find my way back, and we were talking the other day about how I hope it doesn’t take too many matches. I was happy I was able to get in that zone again and I found all the ticks that helped me in my previous matches. It really helps, even little things like touching the line or hitting your shoes with the racquet, it helps a lot.”
“[In terms of patterns], when I’m looking for my forehand, I’m running around and being aggressive, putting pressure from the start with my return, with my serve. All the starting-the-point situations, like serve wide and make her run to the other side.”
Bibi, who recently trained at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, will play Jessica Pegula for a spot in the Madrid quarterfinals.
Bianca Andreescu · Bibi · Mutua Madrid Open
catherine · May 2, 2022 at 1:53 am
Nice to see Bianca back again and uninjured. Now if only Naomi….
BTW – what happened to on-court coaching ? It was suspended for Covid and doesn’t seem to have returned. Isn’t missed by me.
Scoop Malinowski · May 2, 2022 at 7:42 am
Looks like that big beatdown from Iga in the final damaged Osaka’s confidence. She just hasn’t been the same player since all the political grandstanding and activism. It alienated her fanbase from loving her to disliking her. Looks like Bibi really is back, another big win today. She looks super fit and happy.