Misery continues for the 2019 US Open champion, Bianca Andreescu. The 24-year-old Canadian is likely to miss the AO for the second season in a row. Andreescu has had abysmal luck with injuries over the last five years. She was out of action from late August 2023 to May 2024 due to a back injury. She came back to the Tour at the 2024 French Open via a protected ranking but went down to Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in the R3. Andreescu played 21 matches last season and her best result was reaching the final at the s-Hertogenbosch She wanted to make a strong start to the 2025 season, but that seems to be a far-fetched goal for the Canadian at the moment.

In December 2024, Canadian tennis journalist Stephanie Myles gave a hint about Andreescu’s withdrawal from the AO. Initially, Bianca Andreescu was set to begin her 2025 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland. However, later Tournament Director Nicolas Lamperin announced that Andreescu had withdrawn her name from the tournament citing “personal reasons.” After that, everyone wondered if she would take part in the 2025 AO, and then, Myles came up with a tweet stating, “This is not, as they say, hot news. (And I can confirm she’s not in doubt for the AO; she’s not playing.” Bianca Andreescu (130) would have needed to go through the qualifying route to make it to the main draw at the 2025 AO.

Meanwhile, another renowned face in Canadian tennis, Ben Lewis has now confirmed Andreescu’s absence from the ‘Melbourne Slam.’ He tweeted, “Bianca Andreescu, who pulled out of the ASB Classic this past week, will not be competing in the 2025 Australian Open. The Canadian, currently ranked #132 (outside the main draw), will miss the slam in Melbourne for a second consecutive year.“

Andreescu played only 10 tournaments in 2024. In December 2024, she also shared that she has been working with a high-performance specialist to make herself as much available for the upcoming tournaments in 2025. “Been working with @phenom_doc [Dr. Cowan] for a few months now and I’m looking and feeling amazing! taking my health and performance to a new level,” she wrote in the caption of a video clip on her IG stories. However, after all these valiant efforts, the picture looks still the same for the Canadian!

Talking about her ongoing struggles with fitness issues in an article for the Players’ Tribune, she said, “I didn’t want to be on court. I would hit a forehand, and I didn’t care if it was in or out. I just wanted to get off the court as soon as possible…Don’t get me wrong, I never tanked — but I pretty much knew that I couldn’t win. But it wasn’t just that I didn’t feel like my game was there, I felt all over the place, mentally. I kept comparing myself to 2019. Always looking towards the past.” 

Speaking more on that, she revealed that there was a time when she had even lost her joy in tennis. However, the desire to play for her family and country provided her with that extra bit of motivation that kept her going. “The universe likes to test us in different ways. The hardest test of my life is dealing with physical injuries, in addition to the mental health problems, which in a way go hand in hand,” Andreescu said in an interview with Match Point Canada. Does she have any regrets regarding all of these?

In The Players’ Tribunal Blog, she also wrote, “The only thing I really regret is that I didn’t live in the moment a little bit more, to be honest.” However, the good part is that Bianca Andreescu is just 24 years old. So, there’s still a lot of time left to get back to her golden days. Is Andreescu the only one to withdraw from the 2025 AO, though?

Bianca Andreescu isn’t the only big name to miss out on the 2025 AO

The 2018 Australian Open champion, Caroline Wozniacki has also withdrawn her name from the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2025 season. She had previously expressed her joy and excitement when she was granted a wild card for Melbourne. “I have so many wonderful memories of Melbourne, and of course winning the Australian Open is an all-time career highlight. Melbourne’s one of my most favorite cities in the world, and I can’t wait to share it with my family and my kids,” Wozniacki said.

However, her name has now been removed from the tournament’s entry list, confirming she will not participate in this mega event. That’s a massive setback for all the tennis fans, but what is the reason behind her removal? Well, the reason remains unknown as she hasn’t commented on the matter.

Apart from Wozniacki, even the 2024 Wimbledon champion, Barbora Krejčíková and the former world number one, Karolina Pliskova will miss this year’s Australian Open.

Krejcikova cited her “back injury” as the reason behind her withdrawal and she will now be replaced by Nuria Parrizas Diaz. Wozniacki will be replaced in the main draw by Yulia Starodubtseva and Pliskova will be replaced by Rebecca Marino. So, not only Bianca Andreescu but the Melbourne crowd will miss quite a few WTA stars in this year’s mega event. Who do you think will win the 2025 AO?