Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, February 8, 2021 Canada’s Bianca Andreescu in action during her first round match against Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
World No. 46 Bianca Andreescu announced Monday that she won’t play in the upcoming Australian Open to give herself “extra time” to recover mentally and physically.
Andreescu, 21, cited time spent in quarantine and her grandmother’s bout with COVID-19 that landed her in the intensive care unit as her reasons.
“A lot of days, I did not feel like myself, especially while I was training and/or playing matches,” Andreescu posted, in part, to Twitter. “I felt like I was carrying the world on my shoulders. I could not detach myself from everything that was going on off the court; was feeling the collective sadness and turmoil around and it took it’s toll on me. I want to give myself time to re-set, recover and grow from this …”
— Bianca (@Bandreescu_) December 6, 2021
Andreescu last played at Indian Wells in October and her most recent victory was the 2019 U.S. Open. She advanced to the final of the 2021 Miami Open and lost to world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty.
Andreescu has made the Round of 64 twice in Melbourne, including 2021.
She was ranked a career-high No. 4 on Oct. 21, 2019.