Bianca Andreescu couldn't stop her losing streak at the 2024 Japan Championships in Osaka, as she recorded yet another first-round loss.
For a short time in 2019, the young Canadian player looked like the best player in the world. She won the Indian Wells Open, and even though a right shoulder injury stopped her in Miami and at the Roland Garros after that, she continued her run with another stunning win at the Canadian Open in Toronto.
After that, Andreescu beat everyone in New York to win the 2019 US Open, which is still her only major title. Not counting her one retirement in Miami, the Canadian player technically won 26 consecutive hard-court matches that year and her record on hard was 45-5.
It wasn't one tournament that she would be good at. She was incredible the whole season, showing real talent and promise for years to come. However, in the following years, various injuries kept bothering Andreescu.
She struggled with her left knee, right foot, right shoulder, and left ankle, and it's been a nightmare on the WTA Tour for her in the past few years. While she still managed to win more matches than she lost in 2021 and 2022, after missing the full 2020 season, the Canadian youngster had a losing record last year (15-16), and her record this year isn't any better (9-9).
On top of that, entering the 2024 Japan Championships in Osaka, she was on a four-match losing streak, and she still didn't earn enough ranking points to enter tournaments directly, relying on the wild cards from the organizers.
Currently ranked 163th in the world, Andreescu, who recently detailed her spiritual journey, started against Greet Minnen, a player ranked 95th in the world, in the first round of the 2024 Japan Championships.
The 2019 US Open winner could have easily drawn a much higher-ranked opponent, so this was a favorable draw for her, and despite entering the match on a four-match losing streak, she was the favorite.
Obviously, the favorite tag doesn't mean anything in tennis. Still, Andreescu started this match really well. She had the first break point in the fifth game of the opening set, but after she couldn't use it, she was immediately broken in the next game, falling 2-4 behind.
That didn't yet have to bother the Canadian player, as she had another break point in the following game, but once again, she couldn't use it, losing already 2-5. After winning her own service game, Andreescu had a break point in the third consecutive return game.
Again, she was unable to use her chance to break her opponent's serve, and this time, she wouldn't get another chance as it meant that her opponent won the first set of the match 6-3.
Certainly disappointed with how the first set went, Andreescu couldn't find her footing in the second set. She hit three double faults, won only 13% of points after her second serve and only 44% after her first serve, and lost in every single one of her service games.
On return, the former World No. 4 didn't find any more success, and after only an hour and two minutes of play, she lost the match 3-6, 0-6, to record her fifth consecutive loss.