Tennis star Andreescu wanted to stop, but still makes a comeback: ‘Went very badly’ | Tennis

The Canadian, who has fallen to 121st place in the world ranking, will be back in action on the German clay for the first time since October last year. “I’m going to be very honest, I wanted to stop with this sport,” Andreescu says on the WTA website. “It was really bad for me. It was an accumulation of everything that happened in the past 2.5 years.”

Andreescu stunned the tennis world in 2019 by first winning the prestigious tournaments of Indian Wells and Toronto and then the US Open. The teenager defeated American superstar Serena Williams in the final to reach fourth place in the world rankings. After that, however, Andreescu had to deal with injuries, pressure and mental problems.

“If I lost I hated myself, if I won I loved myself”

“I identified too much with my results. If I lost, I hated myself. If I won, I loved myself. Even then I could be hard on myself, because I was not happy with a certain game in the match,” said Andreescu. “I was very critical of myself and that was very unhealthy. The people around me were telling me to do this and that, but it didn’t really get through. I was in my own world.”

The Canadian took a break to distance herself from her sport and lead a “normal” life. She also went on a retreat in Costa Rica to work on her mental well-being. “I was in my own ‘bubble’ with meditations, yoga and all that hippie stuff I love. I will take everything I have learned with me when I return to the WTA Tour,” said Andreescu, who will take on the German Jule Niemeier in Stuttgart on Tuesday.