Bianca Andreescu injured in 'absolutely awful' scenes at Miami Open

The tennis world has been rocked by devastating scenes at the Miami Open, where former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu had to leave the court on a wheelchair. The Canadian was forced to withdraw from her fourth round match against Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova after rolling her ankle in a horrific second set incident.

Alexandrova edged a tense opening set 7-6 after a flawless tiebreak in which she didn't drop a single point against Andreescu. The Canadian hit back in the second after grabbing an early break to take a 2-0 lead as she looked to send the match into a deciding set.

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However, disaster struck for the 22-year-old when she fell awkwardly on the hard court after twisting her ankle. Andreescu could be heard crying out in pain as officials raced in to come to her aid.

Andreescu could be heard saying: “I’ve never felt this kind of pain before," as the chair umpire and other officials did their best to comfort her. In a classy show of sportsmanship for her injured rival, Alexandrova crossed the court to offer Andreescu a hug. Tennis fans were left devastated by the shocking scenes, with some describing it as "mortifying" to watch.

Bianca Andreescu plagued by injuries in recent years

Andreescu has been plagued by injuries ever since she shocked the world by defeating Serena Williams in the final of the 2019 US Open to claim her one and only grand slam singles title to date. The Canadian was sidelined for much of 2021 with a troublesome knee injury and skipped the 2022 Australian Open.

The 22-year-old revealed last year that she came close to quitting tennis after the many Covid-19 disruptions compounded her injury concerns. “I’m being really honest here, but I actually wanted to quit the sport, it was really bad," she said in 2022.

“I am privileged in a way for having this opportunity and doing all of this. Now I’m very grateful, more than ever, so I don’t want people to think, ‘Oh you’re a little baby, just suck it up.’

“But it was an accumulation of two-and-a-half years. A lot had happened and I just didn’t want to deal with anything anymore.”

In January, Andreescu was bundled out of the second round of the Australian Open after a dramatic implosion against little-known Spaniard, Cristina Bucsa. The Canadian squandered a match point chance in a topsy-turvy second set before going down in three sets against the World No.100.

Andreescu's shock defeat was highlighted by a worrying unforced error count that saw her gift the Spaniard with 47 free points over the final two sets, having only conceded six unforced errors in the opening set. The 22-year-old's shocking decline proved hard to watch for fans.

Since then, her patchy form has included a third-round exit at Indian Wells, where the 22-year-old went down to World No.1 Iga Swiatek. Andreescu would have been hoping for a better showing in Miami after wins against former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, Maria Sakkari and Sofia Kenin in the first three rounds.

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