Canada’s Bianca Andreescu to skip Grampians Trophy ahead of Australian Open

Canadian Bianca Andreescu will skip this week’s Grampians Trophy and instead return to action at the Australian Open.

Andreescu was scheduled to return to the court for the first time in 15 months at the Grand Slam tune-up event before the WTA announced on Monday that the Mississauga, Ont., native has withdrawn to focus her time on the Aussie Open.

The 20-year-old, who last played at the WTA Finals in October 2019 before suffering a knee injury, had a first-round bye as the No. 1 seed at the Grampians Trophy and would have made her long-awaited return against the winner of a match between American Sloane Stephens and fellow Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez in the second round.

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The tune-up tournament is for players coming out of hard quarantine following COVID-19 exposure on charter flights to Australia.

The Australian Open is scheduled to start Feb. 8.

0:30 Canadian Bianca Andreescu, defending U.S. Open champion, pulls out of upcoming Grand Slam

“Following the last two weeks in quarantine, it feels so good to finally be back on the court. After discussing it with my team, we have decided to focus this week on training for the Australian Open and miss the Grampians,” Andreescu said in a statement.

“Many thanks to Tennis Australia and the WTA for their hard work in providing us all of these choices. See you all at the Australian Open.”