Andreescu to return in Stuttgart as wild card entrant

2019 US Open champion Bianca Andreescu has not played since Indian Wells in October and has dropped out of the top 100 in the world

Bianca Andreescu at the 2021 French Open Image Credit: Zuma / Panoramic

Haresh Ramchandani

April 8, 2022

Former US Open Bianca Andresscu will make her 2022 debut at the WTA Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart later this month after taking a wild card into the event.

Tournament organizers announced Andreescu, Laura Siegemund and Jule Niemeier as the three wild cards for the clay court event, which has attracted eight of the top 10 players in the world and begins on April 22.

Big news! Our three main draw wildcards have just been announced: local hero @laurasiegemund returns to Stuttgart for the 10th time while Grand Slam champion @Bandreescu_ and Porsche Team Germany member Jule Niemeier will make their first appearance in the Porsche Arena. pic.twitter.com/HvZ52LImNU
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 7, 2022

Andreescu has not played since the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in Ocotber, saying she needed a break to recover from an emotionally taxing season.

After her stunning breakthrough to win the US Open in 2019, the 21-year-old Canadian missed the entire 2020 season due to injuries and returned in January 2021.

She started her comeback well, reaching the semi-finals of the Phillip Island Trophy in Melbourne and the final in Miami. But thereafter, Andreescu struggled, winning back-to-back matches only twice in her final 10 events of the season.

She is currently ranked No 119 in the world but can use her protected ranking of no 22 to enter a limited number of tournaments in the coming months. During her time away from the tour, Andreescu did mange to write a children’s book, which is now available for pre-ordering

My author copies of Bibi’s Got Game just arrived! Maybe it will inspire other kids to follow their dreams!
I was so excited to see them, and to work with @mbleatherdale , @chelseaobyrne , and @tundrabooks. Pre-order it now wherever books are sold: https://t.co/8Y19Rv1FMO pic.twitter.com/rvzMDtiMmF
— Bianca (@Bandreescu_) March 30, 2022

Andreescu joins eight of the world’s top 10 in Stuttgart field

With eight of the top 10 and 17 of the top 20 players entered into the events, the Porsche Grand Pris will serve as one of the key tune-up events for the French Open next month.

New world No 1 Iga Swiatek, reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova, Spain’s Paula Badosa, Greece’s Maria Sakkari, 2021 Stuttgart finalist Aryna Sabalenka, Anett Kontaveit, Karolina Pliskova, Ons Jabeur, and current US Open champion Emma Raducanu are all entered in the draw, which has a cut-off of No 30.

The tournament is a 32-player draw and is a WTA 500 level event.