Andreescu retires from Pliskova clash in Shenzhen with left knee issue

When healthy, Bianca Andreescu has been a force to be reckoned with, evidenced by her meteoric rise into the Top 5 this season. But her debut Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen appearance will go down as an event to forget. The Canadian retired Wednesday with a left knee injury after losing the first set, 6-3, to Karolina Pliskova in the pair's Purple Group round-robin match.

Pliskova led 40-15 to open the encounter, but a handful of unforced errors, including a double fault, saw her fall behind an early break. Returning up 2-0, 15-15, Andreescu lunged for an out-wide serve and pulled up in pain, limping to her chair. Grasping her left knee, the Canadian told the physiotherapist she heard a crack.

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With heavy strapping wrapped around her leg, Andreescu was broken back in the ensuing game. Pliskova struggled at times to finish points, while her opponent worked to loosen up on the baseline. The Czech saved two break points in a nine-minute hold for 3-2. Coach Sylvain Bruneau visited Andreescu during the next changeover, as his student explained the pain around her meniscus. Andreescu showed Bruneau her inability to bend her knee and he told the 19-year-old not to push it, eliciting Andreescu to reply, “I don’t want to stop. If it was against Simona, then OK. But [Pliskova] misses."

In the eighth game, Pliskova moved ahead 5-3 after nailing a backhand cross-court return winner. The former world No. 1 served out the set and Andreescu decided the injury wasn’t worth testing further.

“I fought with the pain as much as I could, but at some point, an athlete has to say stop and just listen to their body. That’s what I did,” Andreescu said in her press conference. “It’s disappointing, because this is the last tournament of the year. You want to go all out. You’re playing at one of the biggest tournaments of the year, too, so it’s not easy.”

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Andreescu’s breakthrough season will end with three titles: at Indian Wells, Toronto and at the US Open, her first major. In 2018, Andreescu struggled with a back issue. A right shoulder problem kept her sidelined for much of four months following her mid-match retirement in Miami; she entered just one tournament, Roland Garros, where she subsequently withdrew prior to her second-round match.

Pliskova is seeking her biggest trophy to date and has four titles to her name 2019. She will face Simona Halep in a winner-take-all clash on Friday, as reigning champion Elina Svitolina grabbed the first semifinal berth by defeating Halep in Wednesday’s opener.