Bianca Andreescu set to play Abu Dhabi despite injury fear

Bianca Andreescu is set to play in the Abu Dhabi Open next week despite fears she suffered a serious injury in Thailand recently.

The Canadian was forced to retire from her semi-final encounter against Lesia Tsurenko at the Thailand Open, trailing the 22-year-old when she appeared to be hampered by a shoulder problem.

There were initial fears that the World No. 42 had picked up a serious problem with her right shoulder that had the potential to keep her out for weeks.

But the right-hander, who had cruised through to the last four in Thailand before the injury, assured fans she planned to get back on to court in the United Arab Emirates. She wrote on Twitter:

Andreescu - who won the US Open in 2019 - had started 2023 in decent form, taking out Garbiñe Muguruza in her first match of the year before losing to Veronika Kudermetova in Adelaide. And she reached the second round of the Australian Open, stunning 25th seed Marie Bouzkova in the first round, before losing to Cristian Bucsa in a three-set thriller.

Before the suspected injury in Thailand, the former World No.4 had overcome Harriet Dart, Anastasia Zakharova, and Marta Kostyuk and had high hopes for a first title since her win over Serena Williams in New York over three years ago.

But her career has been hampered by injury over the last few season and this year she was looking to stay injury free. Last year, she notched two Top Ten victories over No.8 Danielle Collins (Madrid) and No.9 Daria Kasatkina (Toronto).