Bianca Andreescu receives medical treatment during her match against Anett Kontaveit at the Miami Open on March 25, 2019.Lynne Sladky/The Associated Press
A shoulder injury will keep rising tennis star Bianca Andreescu off Canada’s Fed Cup team for a World Group playoff against reigning champion Czech Republic later this month.
Tennis Canada announced Wednesday that the 18-year-old from Mississauga was not named to the team for the clay-court tie, April 20-21, because of injury.
Andreescu, ranked 23rd in the world after starting 2019 at No. 152, retired from a fourth-round match at the Miami Open on March 25 with an ailing shoulder. She has not played since then.
“Representing Canada at Fed Cup has always been a dream of mine and I’m very sad that due to my shoulder injury, I won’t be able to play this next tie against Czech,” Andreescu posted on Twitter. “I’m working hard with my team to make sure I’m stronger and better than ever so I can get back on court soon.”
The Tennis Canada press release does not mention Canada’s second highest-ranked player: Eugenie Bouchard, who also is not in the lineup. The native of Westmount, Que., has not played since dropping a Miami Open qualifying match and has withdrawn from two tournaments since then.
Julie Leclair, Bouchard’s mother, did not immediately respond to a request for information on Bouchard’s status.
Canada’s roster will include Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski, Toronto’s Sharon Fichman and top junior Leylah Annie Fernandez of Laval, Que, who will make her Fed Cup debut.
“Our players have all had some good results since the start of the year and we are hoping to capitalize on their momentum going into this match-up,” Canadian Fed Cup captain Heidi El Tabakh said in a statement. “We recognize that this tie represents a challenge for us as we are playing a great team who is proficient on a clay-court surface.”
The Czech Republic roster does not include its top three singles players – world No. 3 Petra Kvitova, No. 4 Karolina Pliskova and No. 41 Katerina Siniakova.
Marketa Vondrousova, ranked 45th, leads the Czech team. Other players are Karolina Muchova, Marie Bouzkova, Lucie Safarova and Barbora Krejcikova.
Marino is the top-ranked singles player on the Canadian roster at No. 204.
Andreescu won two of the first three matches for Canada in a road victory over the Netherlands earlier this year.