At the 2022 Italian Open, Bianca Andreescu defeated Emma Raducanu to reach the second round in Rome and continue her rise back to the top.
The young Canadian hasn't played a lot of tennis since winning the 2019 US Open, and after admitting she was close to quitting the sport, she is back to the courts, and it looks like she's more hungry than ever before.
It takes a lot of time to come back after being away from the WTA Tour for a long time, but so far, Andreescu has been doing really well. After her victory against the young Brit, she was very delighted by the progress made.
"I feel like now I know myself and my body more and more, so I'm able to make that decision for myself. But I do have an amazing team, as well, that's very experienced and has been in the sport for a long time, so they also help me."
"I'm very happy with everything. Basically I feel like I'm very committed, I'm very determined on what I want to do and how I want to do things now. Actually playing my match against Pegula [in Madrid], it was super up and down, but that was a great reality check from the universe."
The Canadian is also at peace with the injury setbacks she experienced, as she has learned something from those situations as well, and they moved her forward.
"I think that you really have to experience it to really know what you need. But you're playing the best players. You really have to have the right nutrition, the right game plan, like physically, mentally, emotionally, everything."
"It's not easy being on tour. From January to end of October, that's a long time. You really have to schedule your training properly, your competition, all of that. You also have to know that injuries are a part of the game. But the best thing you can do is try to prevent."
"I'm very pleased with how I regrouped from that. Last year I would have cried in my pillow for two days straight. Now I just feel more hungry and motivated to continue and to be better."