Mississauga tennis star Andreescu ousted at National Bank Open

Mississauga | Ontario | Sports |

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Published August 13, 2021 at 3:30 am

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Bianca Andreescu lost her chance to go back-to-back as the champion of the WTA’s Canadian tournament, but sportswomanship got a win in Montreal on Thursday night.

The Mississauga tennis star, who was the No. 2 seed in the National Bank Open, tried to play though a toe injury before losing 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1 to Ons Jabeur of Tunisia. In the second set, Jabeur actually crossed the court and massaged Andreescu’s feet to try to lessen her opponent’s pain. The two were at deuce in the eighth game of the second set, which Jabeur needed to win to stay alive in the match. That enabled the 21-year-old Canadian star. who along with the foot injury has battled abdominal and knee ailments in the last two years and also had a positive COVID-19 test, to continue playing.

However, Jabeur won that game, and seven of the next eight to advance into the tournament quarterfinals.

A foot injury caused Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, to retire during the final of the Miami Open earlier this year. Her positive COVID-19 test led to her missing the Madrid Open and Italian Open. The abdominal injury sidelined her during the Strasbourg Open.

The National Bank Open was Andreescu’s first event since a quite understandable decision to opt out of representing Canada at the recent Tokyo Olympics, which went ahead despite a spike in COVID-19 cases across Japan. 

In 2019, she won the tournament, foreshadowing her U.S. Open triumph where she became the first Canadian to capture a Grand Slam singles title.

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