Andreescu pulls off Charleston comeback for first WTA win in eight months
The wait is over. Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu snapped a five-match tour-level shedding streak to submit her first WTA main-draw victory since July — and received a little bit of revenge in addition, defeating Dalma Galfi 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the first spherical of the Credit One Charleston Open.
Charleston: Scores | Draws | Order of play
The 25-year-old’s final victory at this stage had come over Barbora Krejcikova in the first spherical of her house match in Montreal eight months in the past — however she sustained an ankle damage in that match that sidelined her for two months, the most recent in a string of accidents which have plagued her profession. On returning to motion, Andreescu misplaced to Anna Bondar in Beijing, Viktorija Golubic in Osaka, Victoria Mboko in Tokyo, Galfi in Austin and Kamilla Rakhimova in Indian Wells.
However, Andreescu has discovered the profitable feeling — and all-important match observe — by dropping down a stage this 12 months. She compiled a 13-1 document and received two titles on the Floridian ITF World Tennis Tour in January, and reached the Austin WTA 125 closing final month. Over the previous 10 weeks, she’s lifted her rating from No. 228 to No. 140.
“I wanted to do that back in 2024 [after a nine-month hiatus]but I guess we can say my ego got in the way of that,” Andreescu stated of her resolution to return to the ITF circuit. “I made a decision that possibly it is time to put that apart and actually get what I’ve been needing, which is matches. It’s by no means assured that you’re going to be getting quite a lot of matches — the extent on the ITF circuit is large, I believe. They’re preventing for loads.
“Looking back at how I feel being on the WTA Tour, it’s more comfortable, right? You get more benefits being on the WTA Tour, so mentally you maybe relax a little bit. But on the ITF tour, I mean, it’s do-or-die. These players are barely breaking even. I proved to myself that I can play match after match and feel good. I played 14 matches in 16 or 17 days, and my body felt great.”
Bringing these wins to tour stage once more was the lacking piece of the puzzle. In Austin 5 weeks in the past, Galfi had foiled Andreescu in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 rollercoaster, holding off the Canadian’s late cost from 4-0 down in the decider. A set into their Charleston rematch, Andreescu nonetheless hadn’t discovered the solutions. Although she’d discovered some effective photographs, she hadn’t been capable of maintain that kind in essential moments. Break factors have been a selected supply of frustration: World No. 84 Galfi saved the first 11 she confronted, 4 in the first set after which seven throughout three separate video games in the second.
Andreescu’s route again began with extra environment friendly serving — all 4 of her aces got here in the second set — in addition to a number of forays to the web in which she confirmed off some pleasant contact. At 4-3, her persistence was rewarded as Galfi lastly discovered the web with a forehand down break level — and with that breakthrough, the match swung firmly in the direction of the wild card.
Having struggled to interrupt Galfi for so lengthy, Andreescu captured 4 of the Hungarian’s final 5 service video games; and in the third set, she conceded simply 4 factors on serving herself to arrange a second-round assembly with fellow main champion and No. 16 seed Sofia Kenin. Andreescu holds a 4-1 head-to-head benefit over Kenin, final 12 months’s runner-up, though this can mark their first clay-court assembly.
Ahead of going through Galfi, Andreescu had talked about working in the direction of a extra constant stage all through matches.
“When there’s more of a threat, if I’m down or if I’m playing someone that I really wanna beat, that threat gives me a little bit of a push,” she stated. “But I’ve been working on trying to execute from A to Z the same and not relying on having that.”
Although she did should lean on her preventing spirit to come back by, Andreescu’s stage was extra secure than the scoreline suggests: her turnaround was extra about discovering her finest tennis on essential factors than having to go looking for her kind total. Nevertheless, she was happy along with her day’s work afterwards.
“At the end of the day, it’s the effort that counts for me,” she stated in her on-court interview. “If I’ve given the best I could that day, which I think I did, that’s the most important thing. And then intention, that’s what I speak about with my coach every single day. If I can give those two things, then win or lose, it doesn’t matter to me — have to be pleased with that.”
