Bianca pulls off great escape
MIAMI: Canadian teenage sensation Bianca Andreescu pulled off a Miami Open great escape by fighting back from a set and match point down to beat a dazed Irina-Camelia Begu 4-6, 7-6 (2), 62 in the first round on Thursday.
The 18-year-old who stunned the tennis world last week by winning her first career title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells raised eyebrows again with a gritty and spirited comeback that underscored her status as a rising star.
“The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory,” Bianca told reporters. “I have gained a lot of experience from today, but hopefully I don’t have to actually be down match point to win matches.
“Maybe I needed to almost lose to wake up. That’s obviously what happened today. I’m really grateful how I managed.
Only three women — Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters and Victoria Azarenka — have completed the ‘Sunshine Double’, winning both Indian Wells and Miami back-toback, and Irina-Camelia had looked ready to make sure Bianca would not add her name to that list.
With 28-year-old Romanian a set up and leading 5-1 in the second the Canadian appeared headed for an early exit before she fought back.
Fighting off a match point at 52, the teenager went on the attack by unleashing a barrage of drop shots and laser forehands to sweep five successive games from her crumbling opponent to force the second set into a tiebreak.
By then the damage had been done, with a distraught and flustered Irina-Camelia meekly surrendering the tiebreak before she slumped into her chair and hid under a towel in an attempt to regain composure.
When the action resumed little had changed as the surging Bianca opened the deciding set with a break and Irina-Camelia never recovered as the ruthless teenager closed out the contest to book a second-round meeting with American Sofia Kenin.
Cori Gauff, the 15-year-old American, also turned heads beating compatriot Catherine McNally 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to claim her first WTA Tour level win and advance to the second round.
While both Bianca and Cori needed three sets to advance, third-seeded Czech Petra Kvitova breezed into the third round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Greece’s Maria Sakkari.
Three-times Miami Open champion Venus Williams was also in good form, lighting up centre court by easing past Slovenian qualifier Dalila Jakupovic 75, 6-3 as both the sun and the fans returned to the tournament.
It was a good day on the hardcourts for the Australian contingent as 12th seeded Ashleigh Barty advanced to the third round with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.
Former US Open champion Sam Stosur provided the first upset of the tournament knocking off 17th seeded American Madison Keys 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.