Bianca Andreescu's luck with injuries further worsened as she struggled throughout her opening match at the Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose on Tuesday. Andreescu later admitted that the lower back injury that had been troubling her for a few days reared its ugly head during the first set.
Andreescu bowed out of her first tournament since Wimbledon with a 4-6, 2-6 loss to American player Shelby Rogers. The Canadian youngster, who is scheduled to play her home WTA 1000 event in Toronto next week, revealed that she would now require an MRI to find out the extent of her injury.
The 2019 US Open champion said that she felt good before the match but the lower back pain returned at 3-2 in the first set, after which she was "hoping for a miracle." She battled through the pain but could not find her best form despite multiple medical time-outs.
Tennis fans sympathized with the Canadian star but also wished that she would not stretch her body through matches despite being injured.
One fan opined that players should not put their bodies through a lot and risk their participation in upcoming tournaments just to get through a match. Andreescu is now a major doubt for her home WTA event, which starts in less than a week.
"Not another case of players wanting to survive matches with evident injuries ala Nadal. Sometimes it's heroic, but the most it's not. Why would you risk the most important part of the season for you, including your home tournament, because of one meaningless 500 match," said a post on Twitter.
Rafael Nadal most recently endured severe abdominal pain right from the first set of his Wimbledon quarterfinal against Taylor Fritz. Nadal won the match in five sets but later withdrew ahead of his semifinal due to an abdominal tear.
Meanwhile, Andreescu has not been able to catch a break ever since her US Open title win in 2019. She missed almost the entirety of the 2020 season and played just 30 tour-level matches in 2021. She has also suffered from injuries this year.
Another fan sympathized with Andreescu and hoped she could get rid of fitness issues, allowing her to fulfill her potential.
"Damn. Really hoping she can get past these injury issues and have the career she's capable of. She's so exciting," said another tweet.
Here are more reactions to Bianca Andreescu's post-match admission of playing with an injury:
How has Bianca Andreescu fared in the 2022 season?
Bianca Andreescu missed the first three months of the 2022 season due to personal reasons as well as health-related issues. She returned in Stuttgart in mid-April but bowed out in the second round with a loss to Aryna Sabalenka.
The 22-year-old has played just seven tournaments all season, with her best performance coming at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany the week before Wimbledon, where she finished as the runner-up after losing to Caroline Garcia in the final.
Andreescu also reached the quarterfinals of the Italian Open, where she lost to eventual champion Iga Swiatek. She lost in the second round of both Grand Slams she has played this year - the French Open and Wimbledon.
The World No. 54 will now aim to recover in time for the US Open, if not the National Bank Open in Toronto or the Cincinnati Open. Andreescu had dropped to No. 120 in the WTA rankings in mid-April but has recovered a little since then.