TORONTO — Bianca Andreescu is again the place she reached a excessive level.
The 26-year-old additionally resides — each physique and thoughts — in a greater place general.
Andreescu will kick off her Nationwide Financial institution Open offered by Rogers quest as a wild-card entry Sunday beneath the lights in opposition to Nikola Bartunkova of Czechia (7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT, Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet+) as the primary spherical of the ladies’s bracket will get underway.
The Mississauga, Ont., product grew to become the primary Canadian in a half-century to win the nation’s annual tennis showcase in 2019 at age 19, a part of a memorable run capped by a US Open victory lower than a month later.
Andreescu was using a giant wave when a string of accidents and different points sidetracked a profession that had her ranked No. 4 on the planet.
Now occupying the 174th spot and set to face Bartunkova, who’s presently slotted in at forty first on the WTA Tour, she mirrored on how that magical summer season impacts her journey some seven years later.
“What I did discover that helps me probably the most shouldn’t be staying caught in, ‘How do I change into that particular person or participant once more?'” Andreescu mentioned Saturday at her opening press convention within the bowels of Sobeys Stadium. “It is extra about, ‘How can I exploit that to study from, after which who am I now in 2026?’ Lots has occurred since … it was my first full 12 months on tour. I had nothing else to consider.”
She’s had a lot to ponder since.
The primary and solely Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title, Andreescu has three profession WTA 1000 wins, however all of them got here in 2019. In search of a reset, she determined to play some lower-tier occasions this season, together with a few victories in Florida over the winter.
“It was extra going again to my roots,” mentioned Andreescu, whose final aggressive match was a first-round loss at Wimbledon after making it by way of three rounds of qualifying. “It did not really feel weird in any respect. I used to be simply very grateful to have the ability to play these tournaments and go deep in them, as a result of that was the entire objective for me. I bought what I needed.
“I’ve realized a lot about myself. I do know that I can play in any sort of atmosphere.”
The NBO is in its second 12 months — and a Toronto first for the ladies — as a WTA 1000 event that features a 12-day format that includes 96 opponents in the principle draw.
The boys’s facet is slated for Montreal.
The ladies’s subject poised to compete for a US$7.4-million purse options all 5 of the tour’s top-ranked gamers, together with world No. 1 and four-time Grand Slam winner Aryna Sabalenka.
Elena Rybakina, who claimed this 12 months’s Australian Open, two-time NBO champion Jessica Pegula, two-time Grand Slam winner Coco Gauff, and 2026 French Open titleholder Mirra Andreeva are additionally able to compete on York College’s campus.
Coming off her first Grand Slam victory at Wimbledon, Linda Noskova is the sixth seed and enters at No. 7 on the planet.
Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., is the one seeded Canadian at No. 30 and has a bye to the second spherical.
“It might be in all probability one of many largest titles, finest reminiscence,” the 23-year-old mentioned of profitable the NBO. “It is a event that I first watched rising up as a younger child … it is up there in my objectives and goals.”
Canadian phenom Victoria Mboko, who captured the 2025 title in Montreal, will miss this 12 months’s event due to a knee damage.
Different wild-card entries on the Canadian facet embrace Kayla Cross, Katherine Sebov, Cadence Brace, Rebecca Marino, Ariana Arseneault and Carol Zhao.
Venus Williams — a seven-time Grand Slam winner and four-time Olympic gold medallist — will make her thirteenth look in Canada. The 46-year-old’s finest outcome got here in 2014 when she defeated youthful sister Serena to achieve the ultimate.
“I keep in mind enjoying right here the primary time once I was like 15 or 16,” she mentioned. “I used to be such a teenager. I performed the evening match and I did not know what was going … I keep in mind enjoying on this enormous stadium and being a little bit bit overwhelmed.”
Andreescu is aware of what it is like to face on centre court docket in Toronto with the stress on.
Sunday represents a primary rung on this 12 months’s NBO ladder.
“I do really feel like I’ve that very same pleasure, which I believe to me, has been the largest wrestle through the years,” Andreescu mentioned wanting again to 2019. “Now with the wonderful group that I’ve, they’ve actually helped me benefit from the course of a little bit bit extra.
“And hopefully that will get me the win.”
