Bianca Andreescu seems to be a bit stunned by the new COVID rules as the Australian Open director revealed something entirely different from last year. As of January 2023, Craig Tiley (the director) said that players weren’t required to undergo mandatory COVID tests before or during the tournament. This was a sore spot for Bianca Andreescu who was forced to quit last year. We explain all the details in this article!
A Stunned Bianca Andreescu Returns To The Australian Open
Bianca Andreescu’s comeback seems agitated:
Two years ago, Andreescu’s former coach Sylvain Bruno tested positive for COVID upon his arrival in Melbourne (2021). As a result, coach Sylvain Bruno and Andreescu spent two weeks in a difficult quarantine. “The last time I was in Melbourne I was quarantined in my room for two weeks.
Damn,” Andreescu tweeted.
Andreescu after returning from quarantine was able to claim a victory in her first round match but was then lost in the second round. Now in 2023, a player can feel unwell and test positive for COVID, but still compete in the Australian Open.
The Australian Open director continued to urge everyone involved to do the right thing: go for a COVID test if they feel sick.
She was agitated again in 2022:
In 2022, Andreescu sat out the Australian Open as she stepped away from tennis to focus on improving her mental health and well-being. She also had an injury which forced her to miss the 2022 Australian Open, Indian Wells, and Miami Open.
Compared to this year, last year Bianca Andreescu announced that she was very affected by the pandemic which forced her to self-isolate for several weeks. Additionally, her grandmother ended up in intensive care due to COVID-19, which took a heavy toll on her.
“I felt like I was carrying the world on my shoulders. I was unable to detach myself from what was happening off the pitch. I felt the sadness and restlessness around me and it left its mark”, she explains.
In 2023, Andreescu returns to the Australian Open:
Andreescu will be back at the Australian Open and making her third main draw appearance at Melbourne Park. This time around, Andreescu will certainly not spend two weeks in a difficult quarantine in Melbourne. “We have made this clear to our players, as well as to our more than 12,000 employees.
We ask, if anyone is not feeling well, to stay home. It’s a natural environment for us, much like cricket, there will probably be players going up against COVID, we just wanted to keep track of what’s going on in the community right now, said the director.
Bianca Andreescu’s nationality:
“Canada has given me and my family so much in our lifetime. My parents immigrated from Romania during a very difficult time. They made a life for themselves here from scratch”, stated Bianca Andreescu in one interview.
Athletes sometimes talk excessively about what it means to represent their country on the international stage. This is not the case for Bianca Andreescu. For her, it’s not just an honor, it’s a way to return the favor because she says: “after what my parents had to go through, makes Canada worth fighting for”
Bianca Andreescu’s parents left their native land in the early 1990s and Nicu and Maria Andreescu allowed their daughter to flourish. To reach the heights of a sport that was not nearly as popular as it is today when Tennis Canada took the dreamy young player under its wing.
“There is no other federation like Tennis Canada and I am not the only one to say it. I’ve said it and I’ll say it again: without their support, I don’t think I would be where I am today”, reflected Andreescu.
Can Bianca be as good as she was in 2021?
After being sidelined in 2020, injury-hit Andreescu has played 13 tournaments in 2021.
She reached the final in Miami and her best grand slam result was a round of 16 at the US Open, which she won in 2019. She lost in the first round at Wimbledon and Roland Garros and won just one match in Melbourne.
At this time last year, Andreescu had been out for a month. She returned to the game just five months later. Her return went well, even better than expected, and she reconnected with the sport which made her known in the best possible way.
Happier than ever on and off the field currently, Bianca says there is no possible comparison between the 2021 and 2022 version of herself. “So much can happen in a year and I think people underestimate how much good time can do”, stated Bianca.
Canadian Bianca Andreescu has several goals in this 2023 season, but in the end, avoiding injuries and playing a full season is what she aims for. Haunted by physical glitches over the past few years Andreescu has managed to climb her way to being currently ranked 46th in the world rankings.
“Another major (triumph) would be good, as well as another 1000 (category tournament), ” she told the WTA website during her preparation in the World Tennis League placed in Dubai earlier in December.
“Because I don’t think I had a complete run to play all the tournaments I would have liked”, “I think that’s the number one goal right now. And then break into the top 10 in the world, because I think I’m at that level, she concluded.
