Last Updated on December 26, 2021
Canadian tennis player Bianca Andreescu has not won a WTA event since 2019. She missed last season completely recovering from injury. This season Bianca is not showing her past solid play. Only in Miami she managed to make it to the finals, where she was defeated by Ashleigh Barty.
It became obvious that she needed to change her preparations for the tournaments. That’s why Bianca’s coaching staff made some changes.
Bianca Andreescu’s current coach is Sven Groeneveld
In early August, WTA No. 5 Bianca Andreescu announced that Dutchman Sven Groeneveld had become her new coach.
He became a professional tennis player at the age of 19, but was unable to achieve much success. His highest singles rating was 826 and his highest doubles rating was 837 in 1986.
Sven became a professional tennis player early on, but was unable to showcase his talent and achieve serious success. He managed to rise to 826 in the ATP singles ranking, which was his best result. In 1989 he ended his tennis career, and became a coach.
Groeneveld has previously coached Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Caroline Wozniacki and Sloane Stephens. On the men’s tour he has worked with Tommy Haas, Mario Ancic, Michael Stich and Taro Daniel, among others.
Bianca Andreescu’s past coaches
In early June, the Canadian announced the end of her collaboration with Sylvain Bruno, with whom she had worked for four years.
“It is with a heavy heart that I and my longtime coach, mentor and friend have made a mutual decision to end our collaboration.
Our friendship will last forever; it was an amazing four years of my life. I am so grateful for everything we did together and for our wonderful memories. Sylvain was more than a coach to me… He was part of my family,” said Bianca.
Sylvain Bruneau was a teenager when he fell in love with tennis. The trigger? The opening of an indoor club in Repentigny. That’s when I started playing a lot,” he says. I was 15 or 16, which is very late. Martin Laurendeau often trained at the club. He was already one of the best in Canada in his age category and I spent hours watching him hit balls. »
An excellent athlete, Bruneau quickly became a solid player. But he understood that his future lay in teaching tennis. He led youth at his club and adults in a city gym.
Little by little, good players emerged from the Repentigny club: Jocelyn Robichaud, Marie-Ève Pelletier… It didn’t escape Tennis Québec, who gave Bruneau his first chance on the Canadian scene. Tennis Canada then recruited him. Over the years, Bruneau found himself at the head of the Fed Cup national team, which defends the honor of the country in this great international championship.
In early 2018, Bruneau’s career took a new turn. His boss Louis Borfiga asked him to act as Andreescu’s personal coach. I was a little reluctant,” he says. I had a good relationship with all the girls on the team. And I knew that if I coached one player in particular, it might change the dynamic with the others. »
Borfiga, vice-president of elite development at Tennis Canada, explains his decision: “The priority was Bianca. From there, I had to give her everything she needed to achieve her goals. I told Sylvain, “You can’t do everything, so you’re going to leave the Fed Cup.” He was not happy because the Fed Cup was his little baby. But it didn’t take long to convince him.
Bianca Andreescu has crazy talent. But she still had to realize it in order to reach the top of international tennis. And Bruneau is happy to have helped her take this decisive step.
Bianca was not fully aware of all her strengths and her gift for tennis. She needed a little help to discover it.
Sylvain Bruneau
Together they won the next three tournaments: