Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu to miss remainder of 2020 season to focus on 'health and training'

Paris: Last year’s US Open champion Bianca Andreescu said Tuesday she will sit out the remainder of the season to focus on her “health and training” after a year beset by injury. Andreescu, who beat Serena Williams at Flushing Meadows 12 months ago to become Canada’s first Grand Slam singles champion, has not played a match since hurting her knee last October at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen. Last week the world number seven withdrew from the French Open, rescheduled to start on Sunday from May due to the coronavirus pandemic. She had already been forced to skip the defence of her US Open crown after being unable to properly prepare, in part because of the global health crisis. “I have come to the difficult decision to skip the clay court swing this year and will be taking the remainder of the season off to focus on my health and training,” Andreescu wrote on Twitter. “As hard as it was to come to this conclusion, I have so much to look forward to in 2021, including the Olympics; I want to use this time to focus on my game so I can come back stronger and better than ever.” Andreescu, 20, joins defending Roland Garros champion Ashleigh Barty and newly-crowned US Open winner Naomi Osaka on the absentee list for the September 27-October 11 Grand Slam in Paris.