Don’t talk about rankings to Bianca Andreescu. The Canadian is unhappy with her current rank and her goal is clear: break into the top 20 again.
The 23-year-old is still the highest-ranked Canadian in the world, at 44th.
The 2019 National Bank Open (OBN) and U.S. Open champion was at Le Cathcart restaurant at Place Ville Marie in Montreal on Friday night as part of the main draw unveiling ceremony of the OBN, which gets under way this Saturday.
“I don’t like seeing my rankings and I know I can be even better,” Andreescu said in the back of the reception hall.
“My goal for the end of the season is to break into the top 20, if not the top 10. I have to see it tournament by tournament. The goal remains to play more than three games per tournament, and the rest will come,” she continued.
Visibly happy to return to Montreal following a first-round loss at the Washington tournament on Monday, Andreescu landed in the Quebec metropolis with the intention of staying there until next Sunday: “To all the tournaments that I play, I want to win. I want to win 100%. But of course, there are still steps to take. For now, I can only give my 100%. »
That was four years ago, but it feels like yesterday. Her triumphs on Canadian soil and in the Grand Slam tournament have certainly transformed the Ontarian.
However, she was never able to taste the euphoria of victory again.
When she thinks back to this intoxicating, and somewhat unexpected time, she has mixed feelings: “It depends on my state of mind. It can be great, but sometimes I think it’s been four years and wonder what happened since then. »
She claims to have “thinning and thinning” patience. However, she reassures herself by telling herself that since she has already won, she knows how to do it again.
And it could well be in Montreal. At the start of the tournament, she will face a player from the qualifications. If it may seem like a game to be taken, given that the player facing her will necessarily be lower ranked, the Canadian reminds us that victory is never certain, even when the confrontation is to her advantage on paper. “[The qualifiers], they’ve played before, and playing is not like practicing. They can be on a roll, and I’ve been lacking lately. Just at Wimbledon [I had some], but that was a few weeks ago. »
The most recent Wimbledon champion, Markéta Vondroušová, was also present in the downtown underground restaurant.
Dressed in a black jacket and ripped jeans, the Czech will play her first tournament since winning the most important title of her young career.
“I took a week off. I didn’t even practice. It was completely crazy. I went home to see everyone. It was a pretty crazy week,” she said of the days following her crowning glory on the English turf.
If she had been somewhat under the radar before, she arrives in Montreal ranked 10th in the world. “I feel like everyone wants to beat me now. I have a target on my back. »
This target can also serve as a cape, since it now knows how to negotiate and triumph in contexts as specific and complex as a major tournament final.
“I think it can help in more complicated matches,” added the 24-year-old.
Now she’s back on hard court, where she won 13 times in 19 duels in 2023. “I love playing hard court,” she said, adding, “I feel like everyone has expectations of me since I just won a Grand Slam tournament. I just have to stay focused on each game. Right now, I just want to have fun playing tennis. I’m so happy to play again. »
