Bianca Andreescu started her 2023 Thailand Open campaign with a pretty solid win over Harriet Dart in two sets, but she lost a bit of focus, especially in the second set.
Andreescu has high expectations for her 2023 season, and at least for now, the WTA 250 event in Hua Hin has been going really well for her. Andreescu arrived in Thailand hoping to finally possibly win a trophy, and it’s not a bad place to try it.
The event doesn’t have the strongest draw, and at her best, she can certainly win the event and beat most of the players in Hua Hin. She did that against Harriet Dart, beating her in two sets, even though it wasn’t a perfect match.
In the second set, the Canadian lost her focus a little bit, which complicated the set and nearly complicated the match. She was up 5-1 but then allowed Dart to come back to 5-4 before she finally won the set and the match.
Speaking after the match, Andreescu noted the drop in focus and attributed it to her having to wait all day to finally get a chance to play, which she branded as annoying.
"I think I played really well. In the second set, I felt like I lost my concentration just a little bit. Waiting around all day isn't fun. So I was a bit tired but I'm super glad that I bounced back and was able to finish the match."
The goal for Andreescu will be now to string together a couple of these solid matches so she can keep building towards finding that old level of hers.
If she can do that, she’ll be the player to watch out for in 2023. The talent is there, but consistency is to be found because she lacked it in recent years, even though injuries are also to blame.