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Bianca Andreescu marked her return to hardcourt tennis with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win over Harriet Dart in the second round of the 2021 National Bank Open on Tuesday. Surprisingly, this was only Andreescu's second win in as many months in what has been a torrid period for her.
Andreescu suffered opening-round defeats at the French Open, the Bett10pen, and the Championships. Her last victory had come against Christina McHale at the Eastbourne International in June.
While Andreescu has managed to win 13 of her 20 matches on tour despite her poor form and injury concerns, her matches have been far from straightforward. Nine of those 13 wins have come in three-set affairs, highlighting Andreescu's difficulty in closing out matches.
When asked in her press conference if she enjoys grueling matches like the one against Dart, the Canadian answered in the negative, explaining how spending additional time on court is not part of her approach.
"Not so much," said Andreescu. "Because my goal isn't really to be on court for that long, I want to be able to stick to my game plan the whole match. And I feel like I haven't been doing that in my matches a lot."
Andreescu revealed that she is trying to become more consistent during matches to avoid going the distance all the time.
The 21-year-old further joked that the crowd and her parents, who were in attendance for the encounter against Dart, go through a roller-coaster of emotions during her longer matches.
"And I'm really trying to, like switch that habit," claimed Bianca Andreescu. "And that comes with experience that comes with playing matches. And I haven't really been playing that many matches. So I think that once the matches, kind of add up, I'm going to get better at that."
"But I know the crowd loves it, actually (its a) love-hate relationship," she added. "My parents were probably pissing their pants having another heart attack. And it's just entertaining too at the same time, so I don't know. I'm sure the crowd loved it."
Andreescu enjoyed the lion's share of support on Tuesday. This was not surprising as she is the defending champion at the National Bank Open, which is her home event. When asked if this support translated to pressure on the court, Andreescu responded in the negative.
She claimed that pressure is part and parcel of the sport and that she finds the crowd support very helpful.
"Honestly, no," Andreescu said. "Definitely, there's always going to be pressure, but I really use it to my advantage, especially here at home. Having that crowd support really helps me and win or lose I know they're always going to have my back. So that definitely relieves a lot of pressure."
"I got goosebumps walking on the court" - Bianca Andreescu
Bianca Andreescu revealed she got "super emotional" at the end of the match when the crowd cheered her on. The Canadian admitted she got "goosebumps" as she walked on court to soa in the applause.
"I had all the feels it was super emotional at the end," Andreescu said. "I got goosebumps walking on the court. Having the crowd cheer so loud is just crazy feeling. And I'm so happy that the tournament was able to be played. And I know they only said 5000 people, but it looked like way more. So it was really nice."
Andreescu will face either Ons Jabeur or Daria Kasatkina in the third round.
