Opinion | Advantage Andreescu in Australian Open return

In the sport that never sleeps, Bianca Andreescu was eyes wide open awake Down Under.

At the first Grand Slam of 2023, in her return to the Australian Open after withdrawing a year ago following a fortnight of hard COVID quarantine upon landing — not ready physically or mentally to play demanding tennis — the 22-year-old looked very much like the 19-year-old who won the U.S. Open in 2019.

A long time and a great many setbacks, from Queens to Melbourne Park.

“Last time I was in Melbourne, I was quarantined in my room for two weeks,” Andreescu tweeted. “Damn.”

Unseeded, aspiring to get her career back on track — at the very least, a healthy season would be appreciated — Andreescu defeated world No. 25 Marie Bouzková 6-2, 6-4 and advanced to the second round on a day that had five Canadians in singles action.

With a new team behind her, most notably coach Christophe Lambert, and a reassuring old-Bianca presentation, she was suffused with self-confidence, fist-bumping herself on key winners — 23 service winners in all, three for six on break-point chances, 71 per cent on first serves, actually considerably below Bouzková’s 83 per cent, but the latter’s serve was not particularly effective.

It’s been a bumpy road for the young woman from Mississauga since her splashy 2019 season, when as a teenager she beat Serena Williams in the Flushing Meadows final. Plagued by injuries, mental exhaustion and a global plague that mutilated all sports, Andreescu took long breaks — some forced upon her by physical incapacity — to restore competitive equanimity.

Once as high as world No. 4, Andreescu is currently ranked No. 43: no longer even top-billed Canadian, a distinction usurped by Leylah Fernandez. But there was an inkling of the Andreescu of not-that-distant past at an Aussie Open tune-up tournament a week ago in Adelaide. Eviscerated in the open set 0-5 and down 5-2 in the second set, Andreescu unspooled an epic rally to eliminate two-time major champion Garbiñe Muguruza 0-6, 7-6(3), 6-1. She lost her subsequent match to fourth-seed Veronika Kudermetova, world No. 40, but there was enough shown there to hearten the Canadian immensely.

While tennis provides scarce downtime across the manic tour season, Andreescu allowed herself a pause in the late fall, vacationing in Portugal and then doing charity work in Jamaica, hitting balls with underprivileged children. She didn’t resume training until early November, submitting to rigorous fitness testing.

She’d said recently, wistfully, of her goals: “Another Grand Slam would be nice. Another 1000 (event), staying healthy, playing the whole season basically. Because I don’t think I’ve had a full year of playing all tournaments I wanted to. And then cracking the top 10 again, because I do believe that I’m at that level. Mentally I know I am.”

Andreescu came out with energy and purpose against Bouzková of the Czech Republic. Pumped and ready from the word go versus an opponent against whom she held a 2-1 edge head-to-head, though she’d lost their last meeting in 2021.

Tactically clever, coming to the net repeatedly to make excellent use of the drop shot and short volley, the 22-year-old Andreescu was particularly aggressive on the return of Bouzková’s underwhelming serve, which relies more on placement than power.

“I’m very grateful for how I played today,” Andreescu told TSN afterwards. “Not being able to play last year was definitely a bummer. I’m very happy to be back this year. It’s one of my favourite tournaments. So, I’m very, very happy.”

The Canadian’s first “Come on!” of the match arrived in the fourth game, where she broke Bouzková, often hitting over and behind the Czech, then consolidating for the 3-1 lead. Continuing to channel her verve and audible positivity. Andreescu repelled the only break opportunity Bouzková could muster, then took advantage of Bouzková’s second double fault to claim the opening set 6-2 in 48 minutes. Second “Come on!”

Clearly Andreescu was of a mind to get this over in two sets, straining to retain her authority of the match. But she had to dig deep to hold serve in the seventh game, delivering a brace of huge points to stave off a break and wrestle it back to deuce, escaping the 10-minute game with another foray to the net and deft volley — freezing Bouzková, who was caught far back in the court.

Bouzková, now forced to take risks, sidestepped trouble in the next game, fending off Andreescu’s first break point of the second set, after complaining to the chair umpire that Andreescu had hindered her return at 30-40 by screaming on the point. On Andreescu’s second break-point chance, her return went wide and ultimately Bouzková held at 4-4. That was, however, the Czech’s last hurrah on intimate Court 3.

With Andreescu manoeuvering her racket head expertly to carve slices and acute cross-court volleys — she would finish 15-for-18 at the net — Bouzková had no response, had to hold the 10th game to stay in the match. But she dipped into a 0-30 hole, got one point back when Andreescu sprayed a return wide, then hit the wall of Andreescu’s dominance: sinking to 15-30, facing two break points for the match. Andreescu needed only the one, as Bouzková returned wide in the 101st minute of the affair.

Should Andreescu survive Tuesday’s second-round match against Cristina Bucsa, there’s a potential third-round encounter later in the week against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @rdimanno

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