ANDREESCU TOPS WILLIAMS
Canadian teen takes hometown Rogers Cup as Williams withdraws with back spasms
Canadian makes Rogers Cup history
TORONTO Serena Williams broke down in tears.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do it today,” the 37-year-old superstar told the thousands of stunned and silent fans packed into a sold-out Aviva Centre on Sunday afternoon.
Back spasms.
“Incredibly painful,” she said. No chance of playing it out. So after logging long, gruelling hours on court all week, it took mere minutes for Bianca Andreescu to win a historic title at the Rogers Cup in what will go down as the most anticlimactic final in recent memory in women’s tennis.
Nineteen minutes into the dream matchup — Williams, the all-time great, versus Andreescu, the hometown hero from Mississauga — and it was over. What was supposed to be an epic battle turned to an immediate nightmare and fast exit for the former and subdued elation for the latter.
The end of any hope of a record-tying fourth Rogers Cup title for Williams. The beginning of a new chapter of excellence in Canadian tennis.
Andreescu led 3-1 in the opener when Williams called it off, retiring with an upper-back injury that caught most everyone off guard.
Andreescu, displaying one of the many qualities that have made her one of the game’s more endearing figures throughout her incredible rise in 2019, went over to where Williams was seated and sobbing during the changeover, consoling her fallen opponent with a hug followed by some lighter moments shared between the two.
It was, simply put, an unfortunate way to close out what had been perhaps the most stirring week of the Canadian event’s long history, but Andreescu will take it.
Andreescu is the first Canuck since Faye Urban Mlacak in 1969 to win at home. It was a moment five decades in the making and nothing could take away from the 19-year-old’s incredible accomplishment.
“I’m speechless right now. I’m just truly, truly blessed right now,” the rising Canadian star said while accepting the trophy, and a cool US$521,530.
“You are truly a champion,” Andreescu told Williams moments earlier.
The same can be said about the Canadian wunderkind who doesn’t really lose anymore, the latest accomplishment surely making fans in this country and beyond perk up if they hadn’t already.
Andreescu improved to 27-4 on tour this season, remained unbeaten on hardcourts in 2019 and, most importantly, captured her second career WTA Tour title, the Toronto crown admittedly being her most sought-after yet, given the historical significance and that her family and friends were on hand to witness it unfold.
“I would say that the win in Indian Wells was, I mean, it was a hard-fought battle. So I felt like it was a sweeter victory at the time,” Andreescu said. “But this tournament is at home. I’ve dedicated so much hard work and sweat on that tennis court and in this gym, so this tournament is definitely 10 times more special.”
It was the first meeting between Andreescu and Williams, who won all three of her Canadian titles in Toronto in 2001, 2011 and 2013, but couldn’t convert on a fourth that would have tied her with Monica Seles and Chris Evert for most all-time in the open era.
“I don’t want to get this far and not at least try,” Williams said, adding the back spasms that flared up one day earlier have proved problematic before, often lasting between 24 and 36 hours.
“I think I would have really regretted not at least going out there and seeing maybe if a miracle happened.”
There was no miracle for the legend, who was looking to record her first tour-level win since 2016 in Rome, having famously won the 2017 Australian Open title while pregnant.
It should be noted the Canadian came out punching before she was gifted the win against Williams, a continuation of the determination she displayed all week in toppling top-10 opponents while overcoming a recurring groin issue.
Andreescu was positioned nicely in the early stages on Sunday afternoon, going up a break for a 2-1 lead when Williams committed her second double-fault of the match.
One game earlier, the Canadian brought out her drop shot, executing the deft-touch play with precision as applause rained down from the pro-Canadian crowd.
But when Williams called for the trainer, the electricity that was in the air at the Aviva Centre was replaced by a dull roar, no one quite sure what was going on until, about a minute later, the match was called.
Following Williams’ early exit, we’re left to guess what might have transpired the rest of the way had the 23-time Grand Slam champion stayed in it.
There is, however, no questioning Andreescu’s incredible ascent.
The Canadian, who this week a year ago was ranked outside the top 200, has skyrocketed her way to joining the tour’s elite, highlighted by her first career win at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., in March, during which she racked up 10 consecutive match wins. Including Williams, she has taken out seven top-10 opponents along the way.
On Monday, Andreescu will be the world No. 14, quickly closing in on her competition as the tour rolls on, first to Cincinnati, for a tournament she is entered into but perhaps will reconsider in the coming days given the toll this week’s run has taken on her body, and later this month to the U.S. Open in New York, site of the year’s final Grand Slam.
Andreescu climbed the umpire’s chair and raised the trophy high above her head in celebration following her historic win in Toronto, but perhaps most remarkable has been her overall climb to stardom in a season that has featured two separate twomonth pauses due to injury and been highlighted by dominance the rest of the way.
After reaching the final in Auckland, New Zealand, to begin the year, Andreescu won a lower-level event in Newport Beach, Calif. She lost the semifinal at the Acapulco Open in February, but that has been her most recent true defeat, a stretch of 17 consecutive match wins not counting two she has dropped due to retiring injured.
She missed two months between March and May with a shoulder injury and another two months with the recurring shoulder issue between the French Open and Toronto.
Here, just a few minutes from her Thornhill home on Sunday, Andreescu was healthy and living in the moment, a champion on her home turf after the longest of droughts on that home soil.
I’ve dedicated so much hard work and sweat on that tennis court and in this gym, so this tournament is definitely 10 times more special.