Mixed feelings for beaten Andreescu
Bianca Andreescu will never forget her week in Auckland and those who’ve come to the ASB Classic the past week will remember her for a long time.
She may have lost to Julia Goerges 2-6 7-5 6-1 in the final on Sunday night, but the 18-year-old Canadian was the story of this year’s Classic.
The world No 152 came through qualifying, knocked out Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams and Hsieh Su-Wei, and did it with a raw enthusiasm rarely seen at this level.
It did look like the ‘dream’ – as she always called it – would continue when she blasted Goerges off the court in the first set and also when she was up 5-4 in the second, but alas for her, that’s as close as she got to winning the title.
‘‘I dominated in the first set and even in the second, but at 5-4 she started going for her shots more and I guess I kind of held back,’’ Andreescu said.
‘‘I was trying not to focus on the end of the match, but obviously in my head I was like ‘oh my God, I’m one game away from winning’. So that shifted things.
‘‘It is disappointing, but I can’t complain. I played qualifying, I wasn’t supposed to make the finals of this tournament, so I’m really proud that mentally I was able to hang in there and physically.’’
The third set was one way traffic for Goerges. It was Andreescu’s eighth match in nine days and once Goerges got in front, it was as if Andreescu was then running on empty.
‘‘There was definitely less power in my shots,’’ she said.
‘‘Because of the fatigue and my back was a bit ishy, especially after the first set and the second set.
‘‘But I’m going to try my best to recover for qualifying of the Australian Open and hopefully I’ll be good.’’
It will be a big change to go from beating some of the biggest names in tennis and playing in a WTA final, to slogging it out on a deserted court in Melbourne from today in the Australian Open qualifying.
But that’s the challenge for Andreescu now. Was this week in
Auckland a one off or was it the start of something special?
‘‘Now that my confidence is pretty up there, hopefully I can take that into my next couple of tournaments,’’ she said.
‘‘I hope I can get deep into the Australian Open and get my ranking up to where I want to be, which is in the top 50 by the end of the year.’’
For now though, she’s a player plenty of people are talking about and she says she’s enjoying that buzz about her, as she’s no longer just another anonymous player.
‘‘It feels really good, I’m not going to lie,’’ she said.
‘‘But I’m just trying to stay grounded right now, stay humble and use it to my advantage.’’