Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu bags her first WTA title

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (CP) — Canadian Bianca Andreescu has her first WTA title.

The unseeded 18-year-old from Mississauga upset eighth-seeded German Angelique Kerber 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the women’s final at the BNP Paribas Open on Sunday.

“Hopefully this moment can be a great inspiration for many young athletes because like I always say if you believe in yourself anything is possible,” Andreescu said afterwards in her on-court interview. “And like my mom always told me through the years, if you work hard, you dream big to get big then you can accomplish so many things.

“That’s what I’ve been doing throughout many years and now this moment has become a reality so it’s really, really crazy.”

Kerber, a former world No. 1, praised Andreescu afterwards.

“Congratulations to Bianca for an unbelievable tournament,” Kerber said. “You just played amazing the whole tournament and so you deserve to win the title here.”

Andreescu has become a major story on the women’s circuit this year. With the victory Sunday, Andreescu has won 28-of-31 matches this season and becomes the first wild-card entry to capture this event.

Andreescu earned (US)$1,354,010 million for the victory and received lavish praise from none other than the legendary Rod Laver.