ROME, Italy—At 24 years old, Bianca Andreescu felt like she was running out of time.

“I felt like I’d wasted time,” she told me more precisely last night at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

It was a chilly night in Rome and Andreescu had just scored her first completed win over a Top 20 player since 2023 (Roland Garros, d. Victoria Azarenka). When the Canadian was in the midst of her breakthrough 2019 season, which famously culminated with a maiden major title at the US Open, Andreescu had become accustomed to the long night-late finish grind of a three-set match. Years of injuries and absences gave the feeling new freshness.

“I’ve missed this,” she smiled after a 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Donna Vekic.

It’s such a good feeling to really take control of your life. Bianca Andreescu

A six-week delay to her season had ballooned into four months when the former world No. 4 required surgery for her appendix. The procedure was, improbably, her first time under the knife.

“Not bad, right?” she’d joked to a mesmerized group of reporters following her first-round win on Wednesday. Andreescu credited mother Maria—who stole the show from the player’s box with the chic looks she’d often wear to her daughter’s matches—with guiding her toward less invasive methods.

“It was a journey, for sure, because you want to be able to trust the doctors that you’re seeing. They’re world class, but sometimes their mentality is just, ‘Get under the knife,’” said Andreescu, who has suffered from shoulder, knee, back, and ankle injuries all in the last six years. “Sometimes it can even be about getting another player under their book.