AFP, Indian Wells :
Bianca Andreescu is keeping her balance amid a whirlwind rise on the WTA tour, with the help of meditation.
The 18-year-old Canadian will play the biggest match of her career – a semi-final in the WTA premier mandatory tournament in Indian Wells – on Friday.
Her preparation will include her daily dose of meditation, a technique she has relied on for years.
“I do it all the time. Every day since I was 14, I have been doing it. So it’s become a habit for me,” Andreescu said after crushing two-time Grand Slam champion Garbine Muguruza 6-0, 6-1 in the quarter-finals at Indian Wells.
“It’s nothing complicated. I wake up every morning. First thing I do is I meditate.
“I think it really helps me get a good jump-start to the day. Not opening my phone or anything, not getting too overwhelmed.
“It’s just creative visualization. I take 15 minutes every morning just to get in tune with my body, my mind.
“Because I feel like a lot of people work on the physical part of things, but I think the mental part is the most important because it controls your whole body, right?”
Andreescu ended 2018 ranked 178th in the world. This year she’s finished runner-up at Auckand and reached the semi-finals at Acapulco.
She arrived at Indian Wells ranked 60th in the world and will land in the top 40 by virtue of reaching the semis where she’ll face sixth-ranked Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
