Bianca Andreescu gives Nike a dressing down at US Open before issuing apology
Bianca Andreescu got a dressing-down from her coach after she refused to put her left wrist under the hot water that he wanted her to use to clean off the clay during her second round match at the US Open in Washington DC.
Determined to push on after a frustrating first two sets, Andreescu and her team were desperate to get into some sort of rhythm and started to move ahead in the third set.
However, her coach then told her to put her left wrist into a vat of hot water as to remove any friction that could lead to grip injuries. Andreescu declined to follow his instruction.
Andreescu issued a written apology on Thursday night in which she admitted that she couldn’t play the way she wanted to because of her wrist.
She said: “I don’t have to apologize to the world, I am the world. But I’m sorry to my family, I am sorry to my coaches, and I’m sorry to myself. I was just trying to do what was right for me, and I let them down.”
But Andreescu had a lot of support from the crowd. A number of people told her they believed she was doing the right thing.
Andreescu’s apology came as a surprise to many. Tennis is not commonly known as a women’s sport and most sports analysts did not predict that Andreescu would be able to withstand the pressure of an elite male athlete.
Bianca Andreescu was so embarrassed on the court by her inability to put her left wrist into the hot water that she issued a written apology on Thursday night after a frustrating first two sets and a last-ditch rally for a win in her second round match at the US Open.
Anders Berntsen/Borre Karr/Getty Images
Andreescu was so