Bianca Andreescu back into a final as lower level comeback worlds away from Australian Open gathers steam with four more tournaments entered

Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu is aiming to return but is doing so at a lower level this time likely in lieu of a lack of wildcards which are likely to drop into her lap and is into the final of her first tournament of the season, a world away from the Australian Open.

The talent of Andreescu has never been in question. She has even in her post mental health and injury break returns often shown flourishes as to why she won the 2019 US Open which has made it all the more frustrating that she hasn't been able to capitalise on that and make her way back to her best.

Even last season when she was playing so well in Rome, she then lost in qualifying for the subsequent majors in French Open and Wimbledon and going home to Canada for the tournament that saw her catapulted into stardom prior to her US Open run, she rolled her ankle on match point and lost said match.

She then played in Asia towards the back end of the year but didn't achieve many notable results and couldn't rely on protected rankings or wildcards to get herself towards playing in Melbourne. She was one of two former Grand Slam champions who didn't manage to play in Australia, the other being Victoria Azarenka who unlike Andreescu hasn't started her season lower level yet.

But it shows some resolve from the 25-year-old who has not lost the fight and hunger that she can return to her best and decided despite admitting that playing qualifying before has dented her ego to enter a lower level than qualifying in a W35 event in Bradenton this week.

She had a tough opening assignment defeating Malkia Ngounoue in three sets but since then, it has been a lot more of a steady route through. She saw off Ella McDonald 6-4, 6-3 before then beating Tatiana Pieri 6-2, 6-1 and Lea Ma finally 6-1, 6-0.

She will face fifth seed Vivian Wolff in the final who saw off Hina Inoue who was second seed and had to retire down a set in their semi-finals. But it isn't the only tournament that Andreescu will play lower level and she has committed to the next few weeks playing these tournaments to boost her ranking which currently sits at a lowly World No.228.

She will play Weston next week then Vero Beach the week after and also a 50k tournament in Orlando. This means she likely too will skip the Middle Eastern swing post Australia and will aim it seems to head towards Indian Wells/Miami and also the clay court swing with a higher ranking.

It is a move that has garnered mixed results for top names in the past with Belinda Bencic and Elina Svitolina being two famous examples post motherhood though who have played lower level and have endured great success before finding their feet back on the main tour. It is a route that more and more top names may need to take though including Azarenka but also the likes of Katie Boulter who has plummeted from World No.40 to nearly having to play qualifying for Melbourne this year.

Emma Navarro has often played WTA 125 events and ITF tournaments in order to build herself up while Victoria Mboko the compatriot of Andreescu thrived in these smaller events before she got a wildcard for Miami which changed her trajectory forever so there is a route but whether Andreescu takes it remains to be seen. In a time where Anisimova for instance came back from not playing anymore to being top four, Andreescu surely will believe that there is a path too.