Bianca Andreescu is keen to rekindle her junior rivalry with Iga Swiatek at the 2022 Italian Open quarterfinal.
Andreescu rejoined the Tour at the start of the European clay swing after taking an indefinite break from the sport since October 2021. The Canadian has grown in confidence, and the results support this claim.
The former US Open champion reached the last 16 at the Madrid Open, which was just her second tournament of the season. This week, she's won three matches in Rome, the latest being her straight-sets win over Croatia's Petra Martic.
Therefore, Andreescu will contest her first quarterfinal on the WTA Tour since Strasbourg last May. It will be a marquee matchup against defending champion and World No. 1 Swiatek.
The Pole has not lost a match since mid-February and was ruthless in kicking off her title defense at the Foro Italico, dropping a combined eight games in two matches. Andreescu is "excited" about the showdown on Friday and admires Swiatek's game.
"She's playing great tennis. I really admire her success. But I'm very excited to player her. I love the challenge. It's really nice to see that we started in the juniors together and watching us both excel at the same time is awesome."
The match will be the first time they play, and it will be interesting to see how Swiatek handles it. She's won 25 matches in a row, and Andreescu would love to snap that.
Swiatek is aware of the challenges that Andreescu can present on any court with her versatility and variation and remembers a match they played at the junior level that was extremely tight.
"For sure it's going to be interesting. I already played against her in juniors on clay, and it was super tight, super tight match. I know it's going to be hard. I mean, we don't get easy matches in quarterfinals. I'm just going to be focusing on myself."
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