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She is the new darling of tennis in Canada, with all the drama and success that goes with it.
Bianca Andreescu has qualified for her first Grand Slam final at the US Open, where she will face one of her biggest idols, Serena Williams, on Saturday night.
Andreescu, just 19 years old, already had a viral moment with Williams when the Grand Slam champion, 23 times older, had spasms on the back and had to retire from his final at the Rogers Cup in Toronto there less than a month old.
As Williams cried, Andreescu approached and hugged her. She called Williams "a terrifying beast" and added that she knew exactly where Williams had spasms.
"I know everything about you," said Andreescu.
The exchange was filmed and broadcast on the Internet like wildfire.
Andreescu even ran hotter. She went 43-4 this season while climbing the standings to 208th in the top 10. If she loses to Williams, she will be ranked 9th; if she wins, she will be No. 5.
"It's just crazy what a year can do," she said after defeating top-seed Belinda Bencic in straight sets in the semifinal on Thursday night. "If anyone had said that a few weeks ago, I do not think I would have believed it."
Andreescu was born in Mississauga, Ontario, to Romanian parents. The family returned to Romania at the age of 7 and Bianca started playing tennis. A few years later, they returned to Canada and she joined Tennis Canada's National Training Program in Toronto.
A year ago, she lost a match in two sets during the US Open qualifiers. It was a time when Andreescu said she was "not going through a good time in my life at that time. I had problems with certain relationships in my life, with my body and even with my mind. "
She then participated in smaller WTA competitions with scholarships ranging from $ 25,000 to $ 50,000. For comparison, the loser of Saturday's game will pay $ 1.9 million and the winner $ 3.85 million.
Andreescu then scored his first Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open in January, losing in the second round. From there, she went to Newport Beach, California, to compete in a second-tier WTA event, where she defeated Canada's most successful women's player of the century, Eugenie Bouchard, to finally win the tournament.
In March, she beat two Grand Slam champions, Garbine Muguruza and Angelique Kerber, to win the prestigious WTA event in Indian Wells, California. At the next tournament in Miami, she beat Kerber for the second time in seven days, despite the need for a call. from the coach in the middle of the match to look at his chronically embarrassing right shoulder.
During a brief handshake after the match, Kerber called Andreescu "the greatest queen of the theater". Andreescu had to retire to the next round because of her injury, and then she withdrew from Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
Andreescu then pitched the first pitch in a Blue Jays game on April 3, celebrated his 19th birthday on June 16, and then went to the Rogers Cup in August for his first action in two months . After Williams retired in the final, Andreescu became the first woman in Canada to win what has been called the "Canadian Open" since Faye Urban in 1969.
Now, Andreescu travels with a physical trainer and says she has not felt any pain during these two weeks in New York. She also credits a yoga and meditation regimen, which her mother introduced to her around the age of 12. Her mother, Maria Andreescu, herself attracted attention, dressing carefully and carrying a small dog.
Andreescu also felt the lighthouse crowd in Queens, hearing reproaches when she threw her racket and took a break in the extended bath during her fourth round win against the US. oppressed American Taylor Townsend.
But now, she is heading to the finals, with a chance to finish this monumental year with a historic victory that would also prevent Williams from awarding Margaret Court the greatest number of victories in women's Grand Slam history.
"I think everything accumulates together," said Andreescu, "and works on my behalf."
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