Bianca Andreescu decided against playing in the Australian Open qualifying, but she will be in action during that particular week after signing up for the ITF W35 Bradenton.
The Canadian, who was just 19 when she became a Grand Slam champion at the 2019 US Open, is set to enter the 2026 season ranked at No. 228 in the world.
Needless to say, Andreescu's ranking is far from being good enough for her to enter a Grand Slam tournament main draw directly.
After skipping the first four and a half months of the 2025 season, Andreescu tried to reach the French Open and Wimbledon main draws through the qualifying. Unfortunately for the Canadian, she wasn't successful after qualifying second-round defeats at Roland Garros and The Championships.
In late 2025, Andreescu entered the qualifying of the WTA 1000 tournament in Wuhan. As was the case at Roland Garrosand Wimbledon, she didn't manage to qualify after losing to Anastasia Zakharova in the qualifying final round.
Andreescu admitted that playing qualifying was 'a blow to the ego'
It is certainly a blow to the ego, but I have to put that to one side. It was many years ago that I won the US Open, and so much has happened since then. I still have big ambitions. I know what I can accomplish. So finding that balance of being patient and being that go-getter that I am to try and get back to the top is a bit tricky," the former world No. 4 told Tennis365 while competing in Wuhan.
After three unsuccessful qualifying attemps in 2025, Andreescu may have decided to return to the lower-tier - try to do well there - and slowly climb up the rankings.
Between January 12-18, the 25-year-old Canadian will be competing at the ITF Bradenton. The 2019 US Open champion is the highest-ranked player in the tournament's player field.
In the past, Andreescu competed in the main draw at Melbourne Park three times, and picked up three second-round exits.
