Bianca Andreescu: How former US Open champion and world number four went to the bottom of the tour to rise back up

Andreescu was plagued with injuries – issues with her abdomen and ankle kept her away from the court, and her 2025 season was delayed by appendectomy surgery.

Her form suffered and she has failed to go beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam since her US Open triumph, with her ranking tumbling from a high of world number four in 2019 to 228 earlier this year.

At the start of 2026 she decided to return to an environment where she hadn’t played since 2018, swapping life on the WTA Tour for that on the ITF.

The tournament rankings work from W15 – the lowest level – up to W100. Andreescu was competing in W35 and W75 editions, with the total prize pot for a W35 tournament about £26,000.

The make-up of the ITF tour tends to be youngsters who are trying to make their mark on the sport, women who were unable to break on to the WTA Tour or players who are using it to regain previous form.

The crowds might be tiny and line judges rare, but competition on the court is fierce.

“The hunger the women had that I was playing against, every match was so difficult, and I feel like maybe on the WTA Tour, the athletes are maybe a bit more comfortable with certain things,” Andreescu says.

“Certain things are getting paid for [on the WTA Tour]. But on that [ITF] level, nothing’s getting paid for, and you’re barely breaking even. I was there too at one point, so I know how it is.

“I don’t want people to get the idea that the ITF tour is Mickey Mouse compared to the WTA Tour, because that’s not the case.

“I feel a lot of admiration and respect for the women that continue to grind on the tour, because it’s not easy, even on the WTA Tour, it’s just not easy.”

Vemic, who joined Andreescu’s team in September 2025, echoed those thoughts.

“Every player there needs to prove themselves and everyone is hungry and they’re not bored of playing many years on tour,” he says.

“They’re all driven by their dreams and passion because a lot of them are younger athletes.

“So sometimes it’s a transitional part or stage of coming from juniors into professional waters and some of them carry a lot of confidence.”