Bianca Andreescu felt a sense of urgency.
After years of battling injuries and attempting comeback after comeback, the 2019 U.S. Open champion knew she needed to make drastic changes to one day return to the top of the tennis world.
"This is in a way maybe my last chance," she said of her latest return. "I don't want to waste any time."
Andreescu is enjoying some success on the court again following yet another lengthy absence from the WTA Tour.
What began as a short-term break in December stretched into nearly six months off after she underwent emergency appendix surgery in February.
Now the 24-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., is back with a whole lot of new — from her racket to her coach to her diet.
Antonio Fernandez Cantisano, originally Andreescu’s physiotherapist, is her hitting partner and "all-in-one" coach after a split with J.T. Nishimura.
She's also overhauled her nutrition, going gluten- and dairy-free, and embracing elements of bestselling author David Asprey’s "Bulletproof Diet," including cutting out high-oxalate vegetables like spinach and kale.
Another change? She’s six months sober, having not had a drop of alcohol since Dec. 14.
"I was never a heavy drinker or anything," she said in a phone interview from Rome. "I was always a social drinker, like I'll have a glass of wine here for certain events.
"Something sparked in me, and I said if I really want to come back, I need to come back like full force."
So far, it’s paying off.
Feeling leaner and rejuvenated, Andreescu defeated two top-20 opponents at the Italian Open — showcasing her power and versatile shotmaking in a first-career victory over 11th seed Elena Rybakina — before falling 7-5, 6-1 to Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng in the fourth round Monday.
The encouraging run also came on clay, when most of her success has been on the hard-court surface.
Zheng, who fought off two set points from Andreescu in the opening set, won the Paris Olympics on clay last year at Roland-Garros. The top players all return to that venue for the French Open, the season's second Grand Slam, starting May 25.
Andreescu couldn’t have imagined making these types of sacrifices three years ago, finally of legal drinking age in the U.S., living on her own and eager to experience life on and off the court.
She was also a Grand Slam champion at just 19.
"I kind of had this ego around me," she said. "Just looking back, there's no chance that I would have done any of this. I thought that being super strict wasn't my thing.
"I was like, 'No, I'm not going to be one of those players, those players are depressing.'"
Now that she is one of them, Andreescu feels far from depressed.
The former world No. 4 is more confident than ever that she can return to the heights of 2019 — a year that included a Rogers Cup victory over Serena Williams via retirement in Toronto, followed by her breakthrough win in New York over the 23-time Grand Slam champion.
Andreescu's ranking is currently No. 121, though she's projected to land around No. 100 after her Rome run.
"I'm really not messing around anymore," Andreescu said. "I've never been as committed to my craft as I am now.
"Sometimes us humans need to go through the lowest of the low to really change, and I think going through that surgery and another six months off the tour really led to that."
Andreescu, a mental health advocate, is also returning as an ambassador for Tennis Canada’s Mental Timeout initiative in 2025. The program launched in 2022 to promote a healthy tennis environment for Canadians.
She has gone 204-105 in her professional career, including an eye-popping 48-7 record in 2019.
In the years since, she’s left the court regularly to nurse back, shoulder, knee, ankle and foot injuries.
At times amid the ups and downs, she admits, her breakout season felt like a distant memory.
"I feel like it was in another lifetime at that point," she said. "I believed too much of what other people said. Like, 'She's a one-hit wonder.' 'Oh, she's a fluke, 2019 is the only success she'll ever have.'
“I started to believe those things, but I also felt that in my game as well.”
Getting back to that form used to be her "dream." Now she calls it a goal.
"Now I know what I can do, and I know that the U.S. Open win wasn't in another lifetime," she said. "Instead of looking back and saying, 'Oh, that was so nice,' now I have the narrative, 'Yes, that was nice, but I know I can do it again.'
“It's with that certainty of, yeah, being able to lift that freaking trophy again. I really do believe that."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2025.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
