Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, will take a mental break from tennis and sit out the start of next season, including the Australian Open, saying Monday she wants to “re-set, recover, and grow” after a “challenging” two years that included getting COVID-19.
The 21-year-old from Canada
“A lot of days, I did not feel like myself, especially while I was training and/or playing matches. I felt like I was carrying the world on my shoulders,” Andreescu said. “I could not detach myself from everything that was going on off the court; was feeling the collective sadness and turmoil around and it took its toll on me.”
Andreescu joins other professional athletes who have cited the need for time away from competition to gather themselves mentally — including, for example,
Andreescu was 19 when she capped a breakthrough season by upsetting her idol, Serena Williams, in
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