Photo: WTA Tour
Playing in her first semifinal since June of 2022 on Saturday at the Thailand Open in Hua Hin, Bianca Andreescu was unable to advance to her first final of the 2023 season as she was forced to retire while trailing Ukrainian veteran Lesia Tsurenko 7-5, 4-0 after receiving treatment in the neck and shoulder area several times during the match.
The 22-year-old Canadian, who didn’t lose a set in her three matches of the tournament, met her match on championship weekend. She certainly started the match on the right foot, jumping out to a 5-3 lead in the opening frame, but was broken at 5-4 while serving for the set and she could never recover from the setback. That’s when she started to feel pain in her shoulder and also feel the effects of the humid conditions which zapped much of her energy. Not to mention that Tsurenko raised her level in a big way and was keeping Andreescu on her heels during many of the rallies.
Despite Saturday’s loss, Andreescu still has lots of positives to take from her week in Thailand. Not only did she win three matches, but she’ll also move back into the top 40 on the WTA rankings and leapfrog Leylah Annie Fernandez to become the highest-ranked Canadian singles player on the tour.
Fernandez and Rebecca Marino will look to follow up Andreescu’s strong performance with a noteworthy result of their own beginning this weekend in Abu Dhabi. Both players are in the qualifying draw at the WTA 500 event.
