Tennis: Venus Williams knocked out by Bianca Andreescu at the ASB Classic

First the Great Dane. Now one of the greatest American heroes.

Young Canadian Bianca Andreescu continued her unconvincing run at the ASB Classic, knocking out Venus Williams 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-3 tonight.

If the dazzling victory over Caroline Wozniacki was the performance of her life, what is her place? Probably higher.

The world number 152 came back from a set and a fall to shock the seven-time Grand Slam champion.

Andreescu has won eleven consecutive games in the last two sets, while everything she's tried has turned into gold.

Williams tried a brave comeback in the third set, but that was not enough.

For Williams, it was only for the second time in a 24-year professional career, which has more than 1,000 games, that she lost to a player not in the top 150.

Defeats against rank outsiders just do not happen; Since 1994, the legendary American has only fallen seven times against players who are not part of the world's top 100, even though the level of Andreescu was well above that one.

After his magnificent victory over Wozniacki, saving was a difficult task for Andreescu.

She had back problems Thursday night and had already played five games in Auckland.

And the 18 year old qualifier was in rarefied air; During her professional career, spanning 134 matches, she had only two wins over a top 50 player and one against Wozniacki.

Williams made a good start, while Andreescu was struggling to reach the level reached on Thursday night.

The American has used all her experience wisely, placing the Canadian beyond reference and inducing errors.

But his dominion was short-lived. Both players traded their points in a tight first set, and a tie seemed inevitable.

Williams was completely dominant in the decisive game with seven consecutive points after losing the first.

It sounded scary for the Canadian, especially when she was broken in the first game of the second set.

But she rebounded dramatically, finding herself "in the zone," while she regained the magic of Thursday night.

She beat Williams three times in a row, wrapping the board 6-1 before the crowd seemed to be aware of what was going on.

The trend continued in the third set, Williams being unable to do everything to stem the bleeding, although his late awakening was generally brave.