In a surprising decision, Canadian tennis sensation Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ontario has decided to pull put of the 2020 United States Open women’s singles tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows, NY according to the Canadian Press. The reason why this was surprising is because Andreescu had confirmed her participation in the grand slam on August 5.
However, Andreescu has changed her mind. She says she needed more time to work on her match fitness and make sure she was going to be at her highest level of play upon her return.
According to Andreescu, some of the challenges she has been facing are related to the coronavirus pandemic. However according to Mark Masters of TSN, it is possible Andreescu’s recent injuries were a factor in her decision to withdraw. Among the physical ailments Andreescu has had to deal with include problems related to her knee, foot, shoulder and back.
Another reason why Andreescu might have decided not to return to Flushing Meadows in 2020 is because of a new WTA rule which states that players can keep their best result at particular tournaments from 2019 or 2020 when it came to points. This means Andreescu will not lose the 2000 points she won at the 2019 U.S. Open until after the 2021 U.S. Open. This decision by the WTA will allow Andreescu to keep her number six world ranking.
At the 2019 United States Open Andreescu made Canadian tennis history by becoming the first Canadian to ever win a grand slam singles title in tennis. She defeated Serena Willams of Saginaw, MI 6-3, 7-5 at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It will now be interesting to see if Andreescu returns for the French Open in late September. Andreescu beat Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of Roland Garros in 2019. She then pulled out for her second round match against Sofia Kenin of the United States because of a shoulder injury. Ironically, Kenin became the talk of the 2019 French Open when she beat Serena Williams 6-2, 7-5 in the third round.
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