Bianca Andreescu won a late-night marathon match against Viktorija Golubic in the first round of the 2021 US Open. Andreescu defeated the Swiss tennis player 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, in what turned out to be a hard-fought two hours and 48 minutes encounter.
Down a break in the third set, Andreescu broke back to level the set 4-4 and then eventually claimed victory after breaking Golubic’s service a second time. The Canadian hammered a whopping 40 winners to Golubic’s 15.
Bianca Andreescu wants to keep it simple
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During the media interaction, the 2019 US Open champion mentioned having spent the past few months simplifying tactics and adopting an aggressive mindset.
Last month, Andreescu started training with a new coach Sven Groeneveld, whose previous clients include Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Tommy Haas, and Maria Sharapova. She claims to have “already seen a lot of improvement on the court” and has been undergoing intense training sessions.
“Over the past couple of months I really had to figure out like what works best for me and what doesn’t, and I’ve been feeling like I’ve been too caught up in my head with different things and I told myself let’s just keep it simple, Crosscourt, serve to body, T, and just push her back and when I have the opportunity, come to the net,” said Andreescu.
The last eighteen months have been hard for Andreescu, she had to battle COVID-19 issues, injuries, split with coach Sylvain Bruneau. In addition, several early-round losses since the beginning of the season dented her confidence.
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“That’s really what it was because I didn’t want to make it difficult for myself, just because lack of matches, confidence and whatnot,” said Andreescu.
For the 21-year-old, the first-round win comes as a huge confidence boost as she aims to keep her perfect 7-0 win-loss record at the US Open alive.
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Up next, the No.6 seed faces American, Lauren Davis, in the second round at Flushing Meadows. This would be the first time the players would play against each other.
Read More: Serena Williams Recovers in Style Following Her Withdrawal From US Open 2021