Bianca Andreescu 'not quite' ready for singles return at Fed Cup

Canada's Bianca Andreescu hasn't quite recovered to play singles at this weekend's Fed Cup Qualifier against Switzerland, but the team suggests she's almost fit enough to play again.

The 19-year-old, who won her first Grand Slam at the US Open, hasn't competed since injuring her left knee at the WTA Finals. Andreescu was named to the team for the Fed Cup tie in Biel, though she was not picked for singles in the original lineup. She was nominated for Saturday's doubles rubber, alongside Gabriela Dabrowski, and has practiced with her teammates.

“With Bianca’s injury, we are just taking it day by day. Time was against us this time, but we weren’t going to have her play singles unless she was 100 percent or close to 100 percent,” the Canadian captain Heidi El Tabakh told press in Biel.

“She’s not quite there yet, she’s close. So we just don’t want to take our chances and have a big setback.”

The teenager is being especially careful because she re-injured her shoulder during a comeback in 2019, and says the knee is improving.

“Well, I don’t need surgery so I wouldn’t say it’s very bad,” Andreescu said. “I can’t really say much about it. I’m just trying to rehab as much as possible and stay as positive as I can.”

The injury-hit Canadian team also had Eugenie Bouchard withdraw with a left wrist injury, and ultimately fell behind 2-0 after Jil Teichmann and Belinda Bencic won their respective singles matches for the Swiss.

Andreescu's first scheduled tournament is Dubai, which begins February 17.