A Grand Slam champion has chosen to compete elsewhere instead of at the Australian Open this year.
There are some high-profile absences from the first major of 2026, with Jack Draper and Qinwen Zheng both withdrawing from the Australian Open due to ongoing injuries.
Two-time former champion Victoria Azarenka is also missing the Australian Open for the first time in six years.
There is also notably another Grand Slam champion who will not be competing in Melbourne this year, but she has actually chosen to compete at a lower-level ITF tournament instead.
Bianca Andreescu wins her first match of 2026 at lower-level ITF event
Bianca Andreescu is a former world number four and she beat Serena Williams in the last Grand Slam final of her career at the US Open in 2019.
Despite being a Grand Slam champion, Andreescu has faced many struggles since then and has had to take multiple breaks from tennis, both for injuries and her mental health.
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This continued in 2025, with Andreescu playing just 21 matches on the main tour, of which she won just 10.
As a result of her injury breaks and lack of form, Andreescu had to play qualifying at Grand Slams, but she was unable to make the main draw of any of the four majors for the first time since 2020.
Andreescu finished the 2025 season as the world number 228, which was her lowest year-end ranking in nine years.
Although she was ranked outside the top 200, Andreescu’s ranking was still high enough to get her into Australian Open qualifying.
However, instead Andreescu has chosen to skip the Australian Open entirely this year and play a lower-level ITF 35k tournament in Bradenton, Florida.
As the top seed in this event, Andreescu beat unranked American Malkia Ngounoue, 7-5 2-6 6-3, to win her first match since October.
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When did Bianca Andreescu last win a singles title?
Andreescu had a breakout season in 2019, winning the US Open and two WTA 1000 titles as a teenager.
While she has reached finals since then, Andreescu has been unable to win a singles title since her US Open triumph in 2019.
| Year | Singles title that Bianca Andreescu won |
| 2016 | Challenger de Gatineau (ITF 25k) |
| 2017 | Rancho Santa Fe Open (ITF 25k) |
| 2017 | Santa Margherita di Pula (ITF 25k) |
| 2018 | Florence (ITF 25k) |
| 2018 | Norman (ITF 25k) |
| 2019 | Newport Beach Challenger (WTA 125) |
| 2019 | Indian Wells (WTA 1000) |
| 2019 | Canadian Open (WTA 1000) |
| 2019 | US Open (Grand Slam) |
Andreescu will be hoping to change this in Bradenton, as the highest ranked player in the draw.
If the Canadian does win her first title in six years, then she will be on the brink of returning to the top 200.
This is not the only ITF tournament Andreescu has entered while the Australian Open is going on, having also signed up for events in Weston and Vero Beach.
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