The wait is over. Former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu snapped a five-match tour-level losing streak to post her first WTA main-draw victory since July — and got a bit of revenge to boot, defeating Dalma Galfi 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the first round of the Credit One Charleston Open.

Charleston: Scores | Draws | Order of play 

The 25-year-old’s last victory at this level had come over Barbora Krejcikova in the first round of her home tournament in Montreal eight months ago — but she sustained an ankle injury in that match that sidelined her for two months, the latest in a string of injuries that have plagued her career. On returning to action, Andreescu lost to Anna Bondar in Beijing, Viktorija Golubic in Osaka, Victoria Mboko in Tokyo, Galfi in Austin and Kamilla Rakhimova in Indian Wells.

However, Andreescu has found the winning feeling — and all-important match practise — by dropping down a level this year. She compiled a 13-1 record and won two titles on the Floridian ITF World Tennis Tour in January, and reached the Austin WTA 125 final last month. Over the past 10 weeks, she’s lifted her ranking from No. 228 to No. 140.

“I wanted to do that back in 2024 [after a nine-month hiatus], but I guess we can say my ego got in the way of that,” Andreescu said of her decision to return to the ITF circuit. “I decided that maybe it’s time to put that aside and really get what I’ve been needing, which is matches. It’s never guaranteed that you’ll be getting a lot of matches — the level on the ITF circuit is huge, I think. They’re fighting for a lot.

“Looking back at how I feel being on the WTA Tour, it’s more comfortable, right? You get more benefits being on the WTA Tour, so mentally you maybe relax a little bit. But on the ITF tour, I mean, it’s do-or-die. These players are barely breaking even. I proved to myself that I can play match after match and feel good. I played 14 matches in 16 or 17 days, and my body felt great.”

Bringing those wins to tour level again was the missing piece of the puzzle. In Austin five weeks ago, Galfi had foiled Andreescu in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 rollercoaster, holding off the Canadian’s late charge from 4-0 down in the decider. A set into their Charleston rematch, Andreescu still hadn’t found the answers. Though she’d found some fine shots, she hadn’t been able to sustain that form in important moments. Break points were a particular source of frustration: World No. 84 Galfi saved the first 11 she faced, four in the first set and then seven across three separate games in the second.

Andreescu’s route back started with more efficient serving — all four of her aces came in the second set — as well as several forays to the net in which she showed off some delightful touch. At 4-3, her patience was rewarded as Galfi finally found the net with a forehand down break point — and with that breakthrough, the match swung firmly towards the wild card.

Having struggled to break Galfi for so long, Andreescu captured four of the Hungarian’s last five service games; and in the third set, she conceded just four points on serve herself to set up a second-round meeting with fellow major champion and No. 16 seed Sofia Kenin. Andreescu holds a 4-1 head-to-head advantage over Kenin, last year’s runner-up, though this will mark their first clay-court meeting.

Ahead of facing Galfi, Andreescu had spoken about working towards a more consistent level throughout matches.

“When there’s more of a threat, if I’m down or if I’m playing somebody that I really wanna beat, that threat gives me a little bit of a push,” she said. “But I’ve been working on trying to execute from A to Z the same and not relying on having that.”

Though she did have to lean on her fighting spirit to come through, Andreescu’s level was more stable than the scoreline suggests: her turnaround was more about finding her best tennis on important points than having to search for her form overall. Nonetheless, she was satisfied with her day’s work afterwards.

“At the end of the day, it’s the effort that counts for me,” she said in her on-court interview. “If I’ve given the best I could that day, which I think I did, that’s the most important thing. And then intention, that’s what I speak about with my coach every single day. If I can give those two things, then win or lose, it doesn’t matter to me — have to be pleased with that.”