Bianca Andreescu Returns to US Open Qualifying Ranked No. 186

Seven years after her 2019 title win, Bianca Andreescu begins US Open qualifying against Eva Vedder while ranked No. 186.

Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, enters the 2026 qualifying event ranked No. 186 in the world. To reach the main draw, the 26-year-old Canadian must secure three consecutive victories, beginning with a Monday match against Eva Vedder. This return follows a career-defining 6-3, 7-5 upset of Serena Williams in the 2019 final, a victory achieved when Andreescu was 19 years old and playing in just her fourth major main draw. That season, she also secured titles at Indian Wells and the Canadian Open, subsequently reaching a career-high top-five ranking.

Following her historic win as the first Canadian to claim a major, Andreescu faced a series of physical setbacks. A knee injury forced her withdrawal from the 2020 Australian Open, and she later opted out of the 2020 US Open due to preparation challenges during the COVID pandemic. Her return to Grand Slam play occurred 15 months after her New York triumph at the 2021 Australian Open, where she exited in the second round. Later that year, she reached the fourth round of the US Open, which remains her deepest run at a major since her championship win.

Injury History and Back-to-Basics Strategy

Andreescu’s career has been interrupted by significant medical issues, including a stress fracture in her back that resulted in a nine-month layoff spanning the 2023 US Open and 2024 Australian Open. At the start of 2025, she underwent an emergency appendectomy, followed by a severe ankle injury sustained during the Canadian Open in August. By the start of 2026, her ranking had dropped to No. 228. To rebuild her match rhythm, she worked with coach Dusan Vemic, who previously coached Novak Djokovic, to implement an unorthodox schedule.

In January 2026, Andreescu competed in low-level ITF events in Florida. She won the W35 title in Bradenton, earning a $3,000 paycheck, and followed it with a W75 title in Vero Beach two weeks later. These victories marked her first tournament wins at any level since 2019. Vemic noted that this strategy allowed her to accumulate more matches in three weeks than she had in the previous four months of competition.

Mental Health and Spiritual Growth

During a break in early 2022, Andreescu stepped away from the tour to address her mental health, citing a lack of joy in the sport. During the 2022 Australian Open, she attended a meditation retreat in Costa Rica. She has since pursued studies in psychology through Indiana University East and explored past life regression therapy. Andreescu credits these practices, including discovering a perceived past life as a 1500s soldier, with helping her manage chronic shoulder pain and changing her perspective on the professional grind.

Her return to the grass courts in 2026 featured a viral moment at Wimbledon, where she cried on court for several minutes after winning three qualifying matches to reach her first major main draw in nearly two years. Although she lost her first-round match to Zhang Shuai in a double-tiebreak thriller, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6), she described the experience as a relief that her efforts were yielding results.

Current Form and New York Outlook

The summer hard-court season leading into the US Open has provided mixed results. Andreescu received a wild card for a recent event but lost to Nikola Bartunkova 7-5, 6-4, despite holding a 5-2 lead in the first set. A subsequent loss in the Cincinnati qualifying draw followed multiple rain delays. Despite these outcomes, Andreescu maintains that her primary goal is staying healthy and focusing on the process rather than the immediate return to a No. 1 ranking. She now enters the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center aiming to replicate the success that drew 10,000 fans to her hometown rally in Mississauga seven years ago.