Bye-bye Bertens, Bianca’s on the move
Andreescu grinds out another hard-earned victory over the world’s fifth-ranked player
TORONTO She has been going the distance all tournament, so why stop now?
Canadian Bianca Andreescu, the 19-year-old with a flair for the dramatic, took it up a notch on Thursday afternoon, prevailing in yet another three-set thriller, this time 6-1, 6-7 (7), 6-4 over world No. 5 and fifth-seeded Dutch star Kiki Bertens in the third round to reach the quarter-finals at her hometown Rogers Cup.
In doing so, Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ont., becomes just the fifth Canadian woman to advance to the quarter-final stage at the tournament since 1979, when the event transitioned to a hard-court surface. Aleksandra Wozniak most recently reached the quarter-finals in 2012, while Patricia Hy (1992), Helen Kelesi (1987) and Carling Bassett (1985) are the other Canuck quarter-finalists.
Never mind that Andreescu is coming off a more than twomonth layoff due to a shoulder injury. Never mind that she was playing her third three-set match in as many days. Never mind that the world No. 27 was up against a higher-ranked opponent.
She is determined, she is fired up and she is moving on.
“This is a pretty damn good performance I’ve been putting up,” Andreescu said post-match after improving to 14-3 this season in matches that go three sets. “I wasn’t expecting it, really. I had zero expectations going into this (tournament). I was just really happy to be back on court. But I can’t complain right now.”
The Canadian has had fire in her belly all week and she was that much more electrifying in eliminating Bertens, a player she had not faced before Thursday.
The win sets up a showdown in the final eight with world No. 3 and third seed Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
Pliskova, who is tied for the tour lead with three titles this season, will be taking on the Canadian teen superstar for the first time.
“Andreescu, we never played, not even practice, not even anything,” the 27-year-old said following her third-round win over Anett Kontaveit of Estonia earlier in the day. “So I just saw her a little bit on TV. So it would be interesting, of course challenging, to play her here in Canada.”
When healthy, Andreescu has been tough to beat this season, earning her first career tournament win in March in Indian Wells, Calif., and establishing a superb win-loss record of 32-4 before Thursday. Along the way, she has defeated four top-10 players: Angelique Kerber twice, Elina Svitolina and Caroline Wozniacki.
Make it five top 10s. But slaying Bertens was no easy feat.
After starting the match as storm clouds gathered above Centre Court — and waiting out rain that delayed the proceedings for more than an hour — Andreescu cruised in the opening set. She broke her opponent in the second game and converted another break in the sixth game, using powerful forehands and superb drop shots to keep her opponent off balance.
“You just to find a way with what you have that day and I think that’s what I’ve been doing these past couple matches,” Andreescu said.
Bertens is a top-10 player for a reason and she raised her level in the middle set, an epic 68-minute slugfest. The Canadian had match point in the tiebreak portion of the second set, but couldn’t close out it, meaning it would go down to the wire for yet another day.
Bertens saved another two match points in the deciding set, but Andreescu would not be denied on her fourth attempt to close it out, courtesy of a Bertens double-fault, her 10th of the match, as the Canadian and her lively supporters surrounding Centre Court rejoiced.
“I just tried to stay in the moment as much as possible,” said Andreescu, whose goals for the remainder of the season include climbing into the top 10 and qualifying for the WTA Finals.
“I’ve been working so hard for this moment.”
If Andreescu was running on empty, it wasn’t evident throughout the affair that lasted almost 3½ hours, including the rain delay. She was at times animated, angry and revved up, giving a huge fist pump after breaking her opponent in the sixth game of the opening set while her parents Nicu and Maria celebrated courtside.
Andreescu fended off triple break point twice in the second set, highlighting the fight put up by the Canadian throughout the match.
She had earlier dispatched Russian Daria Kasatkina and fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, while Bertens enjoyed a decisively easier route. She received a first-round bye as a seeded player and lost just two games in her second-round match.
The Canuck was on serve and leading 40-15 in the opening game of the first set when the downpours began, causing fans to quickly head for cover in the concourse, many carrying miniature Canadian flags that had been handed out for the match.