From emotional injury to quick return: Bianca Andreescu set to play first tournament back this week at China Open

Bianca Andreescu will be one of the leading stories of the China Open this next week with the former US Open champion returning months after getting injured again.

Andreescu in her return to the China Open has long been popular with fans is very much a player who on her day could be alongside Swiatek and Sabalenka at the top of the game but her injury struggles have been vast and at times heartbreaking.

She took a six month mental health break after the 2021 season to rediscover herself after a pretty full on 18 months after winning the US Open in 2019, a year in which she was touted as the next big tennis star and it didn't really work out as planned.

After missing the first few months of this season, Andreescu was dealt another blow as she soon had emergency surgery but not on anything done on the tennis court. She had surgery on her appendix. This saw her missing in action for a number of months to the point that it was somewhat of a surprise when she played Rouen in April. She showed signs in the months that followed that her game was still there.

She opened up at the time in Rome where she reached the Last 16 defeating Elena Rybakina and Donna Vekic among others that she had started a new diet which meant that looked at the time stronger and healthier but also meant she had to also sacrifice certain parts of the Italian event which have become well known.

This includes eating pasta, pizza and also gelato many players indulge in this during their time in the city but Andreescu couldn't. But she was reaping the rewards of doing so as she headed towards Roland Garros qualifying full of confidence. This is where the setbacks started though.

She lost early in Roland Garros qualifying in shock circumstances as well as at Wimbledon to Carson Branstine, her childhood friend who went on to face Aryna Sabalenka and courted headlines also for living in Hollywood and being a model off court.

Andreescu after this exit was then gearing up for a return to the US Open. She had success in Bari at the Hopman Cup winning it alongside Felix Auger-Aliassime and after beating Barbora Krejcikova at the Canadian Open, it was match point where it all fell apart as in a cruel twist of fate, she rolled her ankle.

She subsequently withdrew from her second round match in Montreal before pulling out of the US Open as well. She said she'd suffered a sprain to her ankle and was hoping to be back as soon as possible. She will have to use a protected ranking to do so though. She will face Anna Bondar. Then her earliest big name is likely Jasmine Paolini in the fourth round. She faces Veronika Kudermetova and Magda Linette as likely seeds in the first two rounds.

It is a tournament of returns with Zheng Qinwen also set to come back after a period away from the sport albeit after surgery on her elbow which has hampered her 2025 season. So eyes will be on players like Andreescu and Zheng Qinwen to see how they do.

Albeit the Chinese fans certainly turned out to Andreescu's practices this week showing that she is still a big name despite all the harsh luck over the past few years.

“It's given me so much, and the emotion,” said Andreescu at the time after her latest injury problem. “So yeah, all I have to do is do my best, and I know that we didn't do anything wrong. Yeah, I guess, I don't know, it just happened. The universe just keeps testing me, but I know it's going to make me stronger, so… It definitely sucks because this has happened before. Honestly, guys, I don't have much to say. It's really frustrating for me and my team, obviously. We're doing the best that we can to prevent these things, but yeah, it's tough.