'I broke the curse' - the fall and rise of a teenage Grand Slam champion

Breaking news from the world of sport: Sport Insight'I broke the curse' - the fall and rise of a teenage Grand Slam championPublished12 minutes agoImage source, Getty ImagesByNathan EdwardsBBC Sport journalistBianca Andreescu stood with the US Open trophy aloft, smiling as glittering confetti fell all around her on Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was September 2019. The teenager had just beaten the great Serena Williams and, at 19 years old, reached the pinnacle of tennis.

In that moment, she could not have thought it would be more than 2,300 days before she would win another title - nor that the one she did would have a prize of $3,000 (£2,200), less than 0. 9m) earnings at Flushing Meadows. She might not have expected to return to the lower tiers of professional tennis, where there are no free towels at tournaments and players often have to retrieve their own balls.

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But after years of injuries, that was where the Canadian headed in a bid to rebuild what had been such a promising career. Andreescu's US Open victory capped off a year that also included an Indian Wells title and a Canadian Open win in her hometown of Toronto, and had propelled her up the world rankings. She had announced herself to the world - but then it all started going wrong.

A knee injury enforced a break at the start of 2020 and the tennis calendar was then paused because of the Covid pandemic. When she walked out to play in February 2021, it was her first time on the court for 16 months. She also admits she had not been ready for life as a Grand Slam champion.

"I don't think it's possible to really prepare yourself , especially if you haven't gone through that before but I wish I had a little bit more guidance after the US Open," Andreescu, now 25, tells Sport. "You think you know everything at 19, and I just remember I'm not one to ever ask for help, but I am a little bit better at that now. So maybe if I did, things would have been different.

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"Her current coach Dusan Vemic added: "She had to grow up fast from a carefree teenager to a young woman that she is now. "You have a different outlook, different points of view on challenges or fun stuff. "Being a tennis player, being an athlete, you suddenly have a different role.

You become a role model for many youngsters. "Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Bianca Andreescu beat Serena Williams 6-3 7-5 to win the US Open in New YorkAndreescu 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.

The story has climbed to the top of the sports agenda, with fans and analysts following closely.