After going more than six months without playing a match, Bianca Andreescu says she's "very excited" to return to the court this week in Stuttgart, Germany.
The Canadian, who announced in December she'd be delaying the start of the season because she wasn't ready physically or mentally, will play her first match since Oct. 11, 2021 when she takes on Germany's Jule Niemeier at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Tuesday at around 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT.
"I feel like most press conferences of mine are kind of like 'oh, i'm so happy to be back again.' It (her schedule) hasn't been quite consistent. But that's life and that's been my life for the past couple of years," Andreescu told reporters on Monday.
"But I'm very, very excited to play again. The last couple of months have been quite difficult. But I feel like as cliche as that sounds, I feel like I've found myself and I really developed a stronger passion for this game and I realized I truly loved the sport."
The 21-year-old native of Mississauga, Ont., who reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 after becoming the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title at the 2019 U.S. Open, has seen her ranking plummet to No. 120 after two-plus years of stops and starts on tour for various reasons -- including the pandemic.
Since capturing the title with a win over Serena Williams in New York, Andreescu has played just 36 matches.
After putting out the above statement in December, Andreescu changed things up on and off the court. She posted shots on her Instagram of going on a retreat in Costa Rica in February and said her pre-season training schedule was seven weeks -- at least three weeks longer than her longest previous pre-season.
"I think it was a bit of everything I did, which was to kind of get a lot of stuff out of my system," she said. "Just be a regular 20, 21-year-old. Spending as much time with family and friends, having that opportunity because being on tour, you don't really have that opportunity all the time. Playing (Call of Duty) for sure, I started playing NBA as well, which is fun. It's not easy. Being with Coco (her dog), also going on retreats ...
"Just having that opportunity as well because I've always wanted to do something like that. It really helped me kind of get away from the tennis world. I was in my own bubble of just complete meditation, yoga, all that hippie stuff, which I love. I'm kind of taking a lot of what I learned there and bringing it back on tour. I remember how good I felt on that retreat and if I can grab some stuff and bring it on tour, I think it will really help me sustain my mental health."
Andreescu makes her return on indoor clay in Stuttgart against the 22-year-old German ranked 108th in the world. She asked why she pick this tournament for her season debut.
"I never really felt like I was completely ready ... I don't think anyone's really for sure ready for something," she said. "I just felt like my time off was enough and I kind of got tired and bored in a way of not challenging myself on the court. I really missed that fire I had competing, training and pushing myself. I think that was kind of the point where I (felt) it was good to start playing again."
Andreescu says she feels "really, really great" physically after an expected rocky start to training following so much time off -- "I was shanking balls left and right," she laughed.
Andreescu wasn't ready to put an exact timeline on how long it will take her to find her top form.
"I have no idea," she said. "My goal right now is just to enjoy myself and give the best I can and prepare the best way I can as well. I think the pre-season I had really prepared me for this moment. I'm not really thinking about results like I did in the past. I kind of just want to have fun and compete at my best right now, but hopefully very soon. I don't want it to take a full year."
After Stuttgart, Andreescu says she is scheduled to play in events in Madrid and Rome.
