Bianca Andreescu is no stranger to comebacks. But her resiliency is something to be admired.
Coming into 2026 outside the Top 200 in the WTA rankings, the former US Open champion chose to take the less glamorous route back, starting her year on the World Tennis (then ITF) Tour, playing at W35 events before working her way up to higher-tier tournaments, eventually returning to the WTA Tour in Indian Wells in March.
She has put her reps in whenever possible, playing WTA 125 events and entering qualifying draws. All that hard work now seems to be coming together with her hometown tournament, the National Bank Open in Toronto, on the horizon.
Just last month, it all came together at Wimbledon, where the 26-year-old came through qualifying to get back into the main draw of a major for the first time since the 2024 US Open. After her third and final win in qualifying, a straight-set victory over Aliaksandra Sasnovich, the Mississaugan needed a minute to soak it all in.
“It was definitely very emotional. I felt like I really needed to experience what that moment really felt like in that moment,” Andreescu explained during a media availability on July 8. “That's why I took like five minutes after the match. I thanked my team and I just sat with myself.”
The fact that she ended her Grand Slam appearance drought at the All-England Club was particularly meaningful for Andreescu, who said, “I qualified for my first ever Grand Slam at Wimbledon nine years before that. So to do it again, looking at it through a different lens, just meant so much because, of course I believed in myself, but I had moments where I didn't truly believe that I could do it again and be in a main draw of a Grand Slam. There were definitely some tough moments. And it was just kind of like a release of everything that I've been through up until that point. And I'm just feeling really encouraged with that.”
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Even though she was defeated in the first round of Wimbledon, Andreescu expressed happiness with her performance. She will be looking to continue to build as her hometown National Bank Open is just a few weeks away. The 2019 champion received a wild card into the main draw.
2026 has been one of Andreescu’s busiest seasons in a long time. After a scary ankle injury suffered on home soil in Montreal last year, the Canadian has managed to stay healthy so far this season despite playing most weeks.
Andreescu shouted out her team for her renewal this year, saying that she has found joy in “the everyday process of it all. Me and my team, we've found a good routine where we like to keep things, of course serious, but we keep things also very lighthearted and we'll play games during practice. It can get quite competitive, but that's also the beauty of it. Because Dusan [Vemic] and I are competitive, but what he brings into the team is the intellectual stimulation that I crave so much. He's just so knowledgeable, specifically about the game of tennis. So I feel like every day I'm learning from him.
And then just the little routines that I have every day. Now that I'm on tour full time, it's been quite difficult in some moments, especially at the start. But now I found little things throughout the day because of course, tennis is important, but I'm also a human, so I'll find time to do other things outside of the sport and those things as well, they help me stay sane through it all.”
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When asked about being a full-time player again, she admitted that concerns about how her body would hold up have weighed on her, saying, “for me, that's been my goal ever since I started having so many injuries. And that's, in a way, one less thing I have to worry about. Because I would always be on court and I would have this underlying fear of ‘how much more can I push?’ ‘Is something going to happen?’ I've had all those moments. So now I just feel so confident in my body.”
She particularly highlighted a match at the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers in Kazakhstan in April, where she went toe-to-toe with world No. 74 Yulia Putintseva in a match that lasted three hours and 39 minutes.
“I played a crazy match against Yulia in Kazakhstan. It was like my longest match, I think. And of course I was completely shattered, but I could have still played. It was just like something came over me. Or maybe it's all the work that I've been putting in. Who knows?
But that match gave me so much confidence, just in my body number one. The mental side of it, of course, takes a toll on you. But now that I've been super consistent, I think that's also giving me even more confidence to finish the season off strong. Honestly, to me, it feels like a miracle. Of course, I've had my moments where I thought this would actually be possible, but until it actually happens, you don't know how it truly feels. So now I just feel beyond grateful. And I'm just ready to continue to kick some butt.”
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Andreescu will be making her eighth appearance in the National Bank Open main draw. She won the title in Toronto back in 2019 and reached the third round in 2022. Last year in Montreal, she suffered an ankle injury in her first-round match which she still managed to win, but had to withdraw ahead of round two.
The draw in Toronto will be made on July 31, with main-draw play beginning on Aug. 2.
The WTA's best return to Toronto next summer for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers Aug 1 to 13 at Sobeys Stadium. Get your tickets today!
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Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
