Canada’s rising star Andreescu back for Classic after ace year
Canadian tennis star Bianca Andreescu will return to the ASB Classic next January after winning the hearts of Kiwi tennis fans in her maiden appearance earlier this year.
The 19-year-old has been the form player of 2019 having a staggering 89% win record, the best of any player on the WTA Tour, capturing three titles including the biggest event of the year, the Desert Slam in Indian Wells, and her home tournament, the Rogers Cup in Toronto.
Andreescu has not lost a match against a top 10 player, beating six of the world’s best on her rise through the rankings including Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina, Angelique Kerber, Kiki Bertens, Karolina Pliskova and Serena Williams.
Ranked 152 in the world when she arrived in Auckland last December, the Canadian was forced to make her way into the ASB Classic through qualifying. The heavy-hitting teenager has now reached a career-high No 9 on the live rankings and is forecast to go higher by year’s end.
Her achievements are even more impressive considering she missed the entire grass court season with a shoulder injury and has played only nine tournaments this year.
This started with a giant-killing run at the 2019 ASB Classic where she took out top seed Wozniacki, sixth seed Venus Williams as well as third seed Su-Wei Hsieh to reach her maiden WTA Tour singles final. She was eventually overcome by defending champion Julia Goerges in an epic three-set match.
The teenager can’t wait to return. “It all started in Auckland for me. I had high expectations starting the season but to beat Caroline [Wozniacki] and Venus [Williams] in my first week was unbelievable.
“It has just been such an amazing year. I feel really comfortable with my game at the moment and for me, that really did start in Auckland.
“I can’t wait to get back. It is such a nice way to start the season and who knows, maybe I can go one better,” said Andreescu.
ASB Classic tournament director Karl Budge is thrilled to secure one of the most sought-after signatures in the sport.
“Bianca has been a revelation this year.
‘‘She has risen well over 100 spots to now be in the top ten and has a record of 41 and 4 for the season (41 match wins to just four losses). That really is quite staggering.
“She has been the best player on tour this year and along with Serena, is an unreal start to our 2020 fields,” said Budge.
Off the back of their dominant displays at the US Open, Andreescu and Serena Williams will vie for the top seed position for January’s showpiece with Andreescu in eighth and Williams 10th on the Year End Race.
“We know there is still a lot more to come on both our men’s and women’s fields. This is a great start and more announcements will be made over the coming weeks,” said Budge.
The ASB Classic will span two weeks, with women’s week starting on Monday, January 6 and men’s week from January 13-18.