Once a teenage tennis phenom, Canada’s Andreescu is mounting yet another comeback

MIAMI GARDENS – It’s not often one finds a 25-year-old Grand Slam champion with 1000-level titles on her resume, fighting through qualifying at the Miami Open.

But when your name is Bianca Andreescu, the affable Canadian who has had the most horrific run of injuries over the past seven years, including an emergency appendectomy in 2025, then her latest comeback is understandable.

Andreescu became an instant national hero in Canada when, still a teenager in 2019, she won two 1000-level tournaments at Indian Wells and Toronto, her hometown, and last but certainly not least the US Open. On Monday afternoon, she pulled out a gritty three-set victory over Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands, on an outside court.

Andreescu, ranked No. 4 in 2019 but now No. 146, has earned nearly $10 million on court, so one wonders why she keeps coming back from injury after injury.

“If I’m healthy, I want to play,’’ said Andreescu, who reached the Miami Open final in 2021 only to retire mid-match with a foot injury to then-No. 1 Ash Barty. “I don’t care what kind of tournament it is. Obviously, I feel like before there was some ego involved for sure, like I’m never going back to ITFs, but I don’t want people to think ITFs are like Mickey Mouse.

“You can try to incorporate everything you can into practice, but it’s never the same.”

All year, she has been playing in lower-level ITF tournaments (35s, 75s, 125s) just to get match-tough again. And the wins have been coming in droves. After an early exit from Indian Wells, Andreescu flew to Austin to play at a WTA 125 tournament and reached the finals. Included was a quarterfinal victory over Spain’s Paula Badosa, who has dealt with her own injuries.

Andreescu won a W75 in Vero Beach and a W35 in Bradenton, helping her to regain some confidence.

“These girls are fighting even harder than some of [higher ranked women]. It’s that hunger,’’ she said. “I’ve had some crazy matches, too, on the ITF side. It was great for my body just to really put myself in the position of playing matches, whether it’s an easier match or a tougher match.”

Andreescu will play Californian No. 95 Katie Volynets – a perfect name for a tennis player – for a chance to reach her first Miami Open main draw since 2023.

“I could have stopped many times,’’ said Andreescu, who lives in Toronto and Monaco. “I have that desire [to play] for sure. There is a reason why I keep coming back. Everybody talks about how addicting it can be, the highs, even the lows.

“Sports brings people together. It gives such a beautiful life in a way. As an athlete you get to travel the world and play on the biggest stages. You get to inspire other people.

“I just want to play as much as I can. It’s all about the effort and intention you put behind everything you do.”

Aussie Talia Gibson, coming off a “fairy tale” run to the quarterfinals at Indian Wells last week to improve her ranking from 112 to 68, cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 first qualifying round victory over Ekaterine Gorgodze of Georgia Republic. After Sunday’s complete washout of the first round of qualifying, Gibson’s match was the first to be completed Monday morning.

Gibson, 21, who had been 0-9 against Top 50 players, knocked off four in a row at Indian Wells, including No. 41 Ann Li, No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova, No. 17 Clara Tauson and No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, her first Top 10 notch.

Gibson became the first qualifier to reach the quarters at Indian Wells since Lesia Tsurenko in 2015. She is also the first Aussie to reach the Indian Wells quarters since Casey Dellacqua in 2014.

Because the Miami Open entry deadline was before Gibson’s Indian Wells run that improved her ranking, she must go through qualifiers here to earn a berth in the main draw. Gibson notched 10 aces, including on match point, while winning 24 of her 28 first-service points. She must down sixth seed Kamilla Rakhimova of Uzbekistan to get into the main draw, which begins play on Tuesday.

Croatian Donna Vekic, who was ranked 17^th last year and two years ago reached the Wimbledon semifinals before earning a silver medal in singles at the 2024 Paris Olympics, won her first-round qualifying match 6-4, 6-3 over American Whitney Osuigwe. Both players came though the IMG Academy in Bradenton.

While the 12 qualifiers still won’t be determined until Tuesday, the women’s main draw will begin. Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion who grew up in nearby Pembroke Pines, will play Anna Blinkova on Butch Buchholz Court.