Bianca Andreescu becomes first Canadian to reach a singles final at the U.S. Open
Posted September 5, 2019 8:31 pm.
Last Updated September 5, 2019 10:10 pm.
NEW YORK — Canada’s Bianca Andreescu has advanced to her first career Grand Slam final with a 7-6, 7-5 semifinal win over Belinda Bencic at the U.S. Open.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., is the first ever Canadian, male or female, to reach the finals of the U.S. Open. Coming into this event, she had never advanced past the second round at a major.
She is just the second Canadian woman to reach the finals of a Grand Slam, joining Eugenie Bouchard who made the finals of Wimbledon in 2014.
In the opening set Andreescu overcame a set point while trailing 5-4, then rallied to win the first five points in the tiebreaker.
In the second set, the 15th seed trailed Bencic 4-1 and 5-2 in the second set before taking the last five games.
“If someone told me a year ago that I’d be in the finals of the US Open this year, I’d tell them you’re crazy,” Andreescu said in an on-court interview following the match.
She now sets up a Rogers Cup final rematch against Serena Williams, who is hoping to pull off a little history of her own.
Williams overcame a slightly shaky start and quickly took control, turning in an impressive performance for a 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 5-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in their semifinal.
If she wins Saturday’s final, Williams will equal Margaret Court with 24 Grand Slam singles titles, the most in tennis history. Court, though, won more than half of hers against amateur competition before professionals were allowed to play in majors starting in 1968.
This will be Williams’ fourth final in the past six major tournaments. She was the runner-up at Wimbledon each of the past two years, losing to Angelique Kerber in 2018 and to Simona Halep in July. And she was also the runner-up, of course, a year ago at Flushing Meadows, losing to Naomi Osaka.
That final was, and forever will be, overshadowed by Williams’ extended argument with chair umpire Carlos Ramos, who docked her a point, then a game – and was barred by the U.S. Tennis Association from officiating any matches in this year’s tournament involving her or her older sister, Venus.
