"She's a great practice companion" - Andreescu speaks on the benefits of taking her dog to tournaments

Although Bianca Andreescu has attained stardom on the WTA circuit, her dog Coco is slowly becoming a fan favorite in the tennis community.

Coco, a toy poodle, has been visible at some of Andreescu's best tournaments, often seen peeking out of her bag in the player's box to watch her owner put on a show. Now 4 years old, the very good girl is accompanying the Andreescu family on a jaunt around Europe as Bianca seeks to regain her place at the top of the game.

Andreescu spoke to WTA about her relationship with Coco, emphasizing on how much the poodle means to her and giving some insight into a typical day with her dog.

"She'll always wake up between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. for attention," Andreescu said. "After six hours, she's like, 'I need cuddling.' So she'll just cuddle up between me and my mom and demand attention for maybe 10 minutes, then she'll go back to bed. Usually she stays with my mom, but when we're in the same room, that's when I experience it. That 10 minutes isn't lovely, but you gotta do what you gotta do with a lil' baby like that!"

The 21-year old gave some background information on the process of traveling around the world with her dog, stating that Coco was often well-behaved during her matches.

"Usually, tournaments allow dogs. Sometimes ... I don't necessarily sneak her in," admitted the Canadian. "But I'll talk to some people, and they'll be like, 'OK ... and let her in.'

"She's a great practice companion. When she's on the court, she'll help out with the balls a little bit. Well, not exactly help. She'll run and get the balls, but she won't necessarily bring them back to us. She'll put them all in her own little corner. But she collects all of them, so it's kind of the same thing.

"During my matches she's the best. She's super quiet, she stays in her little bag. My mom will hold her up sometimes so I can look at her, so I can smile if I'm stressed out. It really helps. It's more for me than the cameras!

"Whenever I'm in her presence, I'm never thinking anything negative. It's about being in the present moment, too -- all I'm thinking about is the dog."