Tennis star who screamed and cried on court pulls out of tournament

Bianca Andreescu has withdrawn from the Montreal Open a day after she screamed in agony on court. The home favourite was in tears and had to be helped to her seat after suffering an ankle injury while serving for match point in her first-round match.

Andreescu's 6-3 6-4 victory over 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova came at a significant personal cost. Having battled a number of injuries over the past few years, the 25-year-old suffered another setback when she seemed to roll her ankle on match point. Andreescu fell to the ground and screamed in pain. "Why does this always happen to me?!" she shouted in frustration. Her trainer helped her to her bench before the world No. 187 managed to see out the match.

A second-round clash with Mirra Andreeva was due to take place today. However, Andreescu has now pulled out of the tournament. It comes just three months after the former world No. 4 took a six-month break to focus on her full recovery from an ongoing back injury.

Explaining her decision to withdraw, Andreescu said: "The ligaments are a little bit torn, so that takes time, so it's kind of a day-to-day thing," she said. "We can't really explain it. Maybe it was emotions, maybe I was a little bit tired. I just stepped in a weird way. We're kind of just saying it was a freak accident."

Andreescu's issues with injuries are well-documented. Over the past few years, she has spent time out with separate back, shoulder, knee, ankle and foot injuries.

"All I could think about is honestly, like why?" she said after her victory over Krejcikova. "I even screamed out like, why does this keep happening to me? Just a bunch of emotions. I was super overwhelmed, playing in front of a home crowd, winning the match, right?

"I started laughing at one point because honestly at this point it's laughable. It's just crazy, it's crazy. I'm trying to stay positive but it's getting really tough."

Andreescu has not ruled out a return at the Cincinnati Open, which takes place from August 11-19. She will hope to be fit for the US Open, which begins in less than a month on August 24.