TORONTO | Her early career was riddled with injuries, sometimes severe enough to force her into long absences. And on Tuesday, during her first-round match in Toronto, Bianca Andreescu feared she would face another of her painful struggles on the pitch.
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Dazed, at times seeing double, the Canadian had to visit the caretaker twice after her explanations. The latter also checked her blood pressure on the ground in the first lap.
The other visit came during the tie break, which Andreescu eventually won.
“I’m sorry for my attitude, I don’t know what was wrong with me,” the 22-year-old apologized after her win in two tight sentences against world number ninth Daria Kasatkina on the pitch.
“Maybe I ate too much at dinner,” the 2019 champion added with a laugh. Or maybe it was the stress of coming back here to play…”
She saw the reviews
On social networks, these two mid-game medical breaks have brought their share of criticism for the Canadian, 53rd in the world.
And although before the start of the tournament she said to try to stay away from them as much as possible so as not to be affected by negative comments, Andreescu obviously took note of what was written about her. .
So much so that the former fourth-best player in the world felt the need to respond to her critics on her Instagram account after the game.
“I never wanted to damage or distract my opponent,” she wrote. […] It saddens me that some people believe that. We athletes get injured, we get sick…the last thing you want is to expend any more energy on it, especially when it’s wrong.
“Yes, I would have preferred to hide [mon état]but I am human,” the Ontarian continued.
In a press conference following her second-round win over Alizé Cornet, Andreescu explained that she doesn’t usually talk about the kind of comments she receives.
” But [cette fois]I wanted to do it for all athletes and not just me,” she said.
“If I make these kinds of statements, I hope it shuts them up. Maybe it won’t work, but hey…” she finished with a laugh.