How Bianca Andreescu went from outside TOP 100 to No.5 in just 33 weeks

Bianca Andreescu was the biggest surprise of the 2019 season when she managed to win her first Grand Slam title at age of 19.

Bianca Andreescu started the 2019 season as world number 152 in the WTA Ranking. With no titles won, the Canadian was entering the season as just 18 years old, but with big expectations. What happened then was just one great story that the Canadian wrote.

It all started at the ASB Classic in Auckland. Andreescu fought her way through the qualifying to the main draw. There, she defeated Babos, Wozniacki, Venus Williams, and Su-Wei Hsieh to reach the final. In the final, Bianca lost a 6-2, 5-4 lead to Julia Goerges, but this was a beginning of a big story for her.

After succeeding in the qualifying at the Australian Open, Andreescu lost already in the second round to Anastasija Sevastova. And this was probably the only unsuccessful tournament of the season for the Canadian. Right after the first Grand Slam of the season, Andreescu went to Newport when she managed to win her first Challenger title.

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After losing to Sofia Kenin in the semifinal of Abierto Mexicano in Acapulco, Bianca headed to Indian Wells where she recorded her first big success. She received a wild-card at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells and used it perfectly. Andreescu defeated Begu, Cibulkova, Voegele, Wang, Muguruza, Svitolina and Kerber to win the title. This meant a move to the 24th position of the WTA Ranking for the Canadian.

Injuries and the comeback

After Andreescu triumphed in Indian Wells she headed to Miami. The Canadian defeated Begu in the first round once again and the 32nd seeded Kenin in the second and no. 8, Kerber, in the 3rd round. However, in the 4th round, Andreescu had to pull out from the match against Kontaveit in the second set due to an injury.

Bianca came back after 2 months to play at the Roland Garros. She defeated Marie Mouzkova in the first round. However, she could not start against Sofia Kenin in the second as the problems with injury occurred again. Andreescu then took another 2 months off the court to recover and came in the full power to start at the Rogers Cup in her home country.

And it was a dream debut for Andreescu in front of the home crowd. She defeated Bouchard, Kasatkina, Bertens, Pliskova, and Kenin to reach the final in Toronto. There, she faced 23-times Grand Slam champion, Serena Williams. The match did not end in a way any of the players imagined. Andreescu got an early lead when she was winning 3-1 when Williams had to pull out of the match due to an injury.

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But the two met once again. After two weeks, they both headed to the Flushing Meadows to compete at the final Grand Slam of the year. Andreescu was successful also at the US Open when she defeated Volynets, Flipkens, Wozniacki, Townsend, Mertens, and Bencic to reach the final. There, she faced Williams once again.

This time it was a great fight when Bianca managed to outplay Serena 6-3, 7-5 in 100 minutes. The maiden Grand Slam title granted the Canadian also move to 5th place of the WTA Ranking. She was later awarded as a Newcomer of the Year by the WTA.

But that was the end of the dream run for Andreescu for some time. Although she reached quarterfinals in Beijing, she had to withdraw from the WTA Finals in Shenzhen. Injury stopped her once again and then she has decided also not to play during the rest of the 2020 season again.