VIKING INTERNATIONAL

June 22, 2021

Bianca Andreescu

Devonshire Park

Press Conference

B. ANDREESCU/C. McHale

6-4, 2-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Just talk us through the match today and really what made the difference in the end against Christina.

BIANCA ANDREESCU: I think for me it was super important that I held serve and I used my serve to my advantage, taking control of the point from the start. You could tell in the second set when she started controlling the point more, and my serve wasn't as good, I lost. I mean, I lost the second set and it showed.

I told myself in the third set to just step on the brake and continue to move forward as much as I can. I finished a lot of times at the net, too, which helped a lot, just continuing to put pressure.

Q. Did you feel maybe that you needed that type of match to really get yourself going?

BIANCA ANDREESCU: Yeah, for sure. It felt really, really good to get that under my belt. I felt really good out there, as well. So that's a bonus.

My serve keeps improving. My shots in general just keep on penetrating the court more than my last two matches. So for me it's a win.

Q. How about those weird bounces on the court?

BIANCA ANDREESCU: Yeah. You've got to deal with that on the grass especially. There were some bad line calls, and by "bad," I mean really bad, like literally inside the line.

But you have to focus on the things you can control. I mean, it really sucks. That was in the second set, and I think it was on some key moments, but it's okay. What can you do?

Q. If you were to list all of the challenges and distractions that were going on on your court today, which do you think was the most difficult to deal with? How did you manage to keep your cool through line calls, noise, wind, everything?

BIANCA ANDREESCU: Yeah. And people walking back and forth (smiling). Yeah, there was a bunch of things.

But I think for me it was good that I played on this court, maybe not on center court, just to not really have a lot of people watching me. I don't know. Maybe that helped a little bit for like my first-round match.

But, yeah, I mean, all the other things going around weren't always easy to control, but I tried my best to stay in the present moment and just focus at the game.

Q. Have you figured out what your grass game is going to be, like your base grass game? Have you figured out what you think that will look like?

BIANCA ANDREESCU: I do have a good mental image of how I want to be playing on grass, and I know it's not going to come right away. It would be nice, but I know if I keep getting good practice time and more matches, that's why I'm playing doubles as well this week. I think that's going to help my grass court game a lot, because I'm going to be working on my volleys, and I want to be coming a lot to the net. And then also for my serve, too, return, all of that. So far it's been going good.

Q. Do you miss playing doubles? As I recall, you used to be pretty good at it. You have a few big trophies.

BIANCA ANDREESCU: Yeah, I really miss playing it. It's super fun, especially when you're playing with people that you have like a very good connection with.

I definitely miss playing with Carson, but hopefully she can recover from her injury and bounce back. So for me, like, playing doubles after I think like over three years I think is going to be super fun. I don't know what to expect from it, but I'm super excited.

Q. What is your status for Wimbledon coaching-wise, hitting partner-wise? I do see some familiar faces around you still, but there has been some churn. So what's the plan?

BIANCA ANDREESCU: Right now I'm sticking with who I have right now with me. I don't think anything is going to change.

Q. Do you have a hitting partner with you?

BIANCA ANDREESCU: No.

Q. Playing on grass, having the two matches that you had under your belt in Berlin and now this week, do you see grass as a surface where you have a lot of options, or do you feel like it pares down your options in your game?

BIANCA ANDREESCU: Hmm. I think it pares down a little bit just because, like, for instance, my high heavy ball isn't always as effective just because the ball doesn't really bounce. It literally is perfect for the player to attack.

I don't know. Today it kind of worked sometimes. Just to change it up I think for me is good, but a lot of other times, like, the ball is coming super, super fast, and you don't always have a lot of options to do. Like sometimes like I'll slice, but the ball literally skids super randomly, so I want to keep it simple. I want to continue to work on, you know, moving forward, using my serve to my advantage and moving my feet a lot since the balls are coming fast.

Q. On the doubles with Yulia, how did that partnership come about?

BIANCA ANDREESCU: Well, we practiced a couple times together, and I really like her, the way she plays, and just her as a person. She just asked me before the tournament, and I said yes. I'm looking forward to that.