Andreescu Reaches First Quarterfinal Since June After Haddad Maia Retires In Tokyo

Bianca Andreescu will play in a WTA quarter-final again after Beatriz Haddad Maia was forced to retire from their match at the 2024 Japan Open.

The Canadian player is trying to return to the top of the sport again, but she has struggled to find the level that powered her to the 2019 US Open trophy and incredible success five years ago.

Only recently, Andreescu was on a five-match losing streak, which she snapped only with a first-round win against a qualifier ranked 410th in the world, Mei Yamaguchi.

It was a needed win for the former World No. 4, who returned to the courts at the Roland Garros this year, where she won two matches. Initially, her comeback looked very promising.

Already in her second event, Andreescu reached the final. She played at the Libema Open, but Liudmila Samsonova proved to be too strong in the final match of the WTA 250 tournament.

Since then, however, the Canadian player couldn't find the same level. She lost in the first round in Bad Homburg, the third round of the Wimbledon Championships, and the second round of the Olympics before losing in the first round of every hard-court tournament that she entered after that.

Andreescu couldn't get past the first hurdle in Toronto, Cincinnati, at the US Open, and in Osaka. However, she finally changed her fortunes at the WTA 500 event in Tokyo to set up a second-round match with the second-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia from Brazil.

The match certainly didn't go as either of the players imagined, as it ended very quickly and very unfortunately. After Andreescu won the opening game of the match, Haddad Maia was serving in the second, and she was down 15-30.

It was during that rally that the Brazilian player injured herself, as she immediately requested a medical time-out during the game, which is only done if an injury is severe enough or occurred during that moment.

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After a relatively long medical time-out, Haddad Maia chose to continue, but she lost the next rally, and she also lost the following game, falling behind 0-3 in the first set of this second-round match.

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It quickly became apparent that she wouldn't be able to continue, and that's why she chose to retire from the match. It was an unfortunate end for Haddad Maia and certainly not the way that Andreescu wanted to win.

However, after being unlucky at times this season, the Canadian player will certainly be delighted to reach the quarter-finals of the WTA 500 tournament in Tokyo relatively easily.

Her next opponent will be the winner of the match between the ninth-seeded Katie Boulter from Great Britain on home lucky loser Kyoka Okamura, ranked 271st in the world.

This tournament also offers a great chance for Andreescu to build her ranking and secure enough points not to rely on the wild cards in 2025. After reaching the quarter-final, she should move up by around 30 places to the World No. 129 position.

This can still change a bit based on the performance of the players around this rank, but Andreescu can also further improve her ranking. If she reaches the semi-finals, she could improve to the World No. 108 position, and if she wins the title, the Canadian would be up to the World No. 64 spot, which would secure her entrance into the Grand Slams and the vast majority of Tour-level tournaments.

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