Andreescu: Why ITF Tour Over Grand Slam Qualifying?

Despite sufficient ranking, people are looking for the name of Bianca Andreescu in the entry list for the qualification of the Australian Open in vain. Instead, the former US Open winner works at smaller ITF tournaments in Florida.

It is certainly doubly hard for former winners of Grand Slam tournaments to have to compete in qualifying for a major due to a drop in the world rankings. Sloane Stephens, who triumphed at the US Open in 2017, chose this difficult path at the start of the Grand Slam in Australia with her protected ranking of 129.

However, one looks in vain for former world number one Viktoria Azarenka, who, as current number 132, would also be eligible to qualify. Last year, the Belarusian was more of a priority part-time player, who of her 12 tournament starts, in addition to the four majors, was only seen in 1000 tournaments and twice at 500 level. The two-time Melbourne winner is probably hoping for a wildcard for the main draw if she is planning her first tournament start since this year’s US Open.

Also not on the entry list for qualification in Australia is Bianca Andreescu, who struggled almost permanently with injury problems after her triumph at the US Open 2019. As the current No. 228, the Canadian would also be eligible to play in the Melbourne qualifiers, but she has other plans. So the 25-year-old saves herself the long trip down under and tackles it on a smaller level first.

A former world No. 4, Andreescu is on the entry list for two ITF tournaments in Florida, starting with the W35 tournament in Bradenton, followed by the W75 event in Vero Beach. It is quite possible that “Bibi” will not only hope for more world ranking points in the States, but also self-confidence in the form of tournament victories as the top seeded player. After all, the major triumph in the Big Apple was her last individual title as a professional player.

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