Bianca Andreescu’s 2019- Part 1.

Going into 2019, I had relatively low expectations for this season ahead for Bianca!! Well, low expectations compared to what would happen next😍 

Auckland & Australian Open

Her first tournament of the year was Auckland!! She went through 3 rounds of Qualifying defeating 3 tough opponent’s, one being someone she had come unstuck against in the past... She defeated Kucova, Fourlis & Siegemund to make it into the main draw!! 

Bianca’s great start to the season continued where she beat Timea Babos in R1!! She then notched up her first top 10 win, defeating Caroline Wozniacki in R2!! She was through to her second ever WTA QF where she’d face Venus Williams!! If she hadn’t made a name for herself, she was to now!! After losing a very tight first set and going down an early break in the second against a Legend of the game, she then fought back and won the next 11 games to go up 6-7 6-1 5-0!!! After a little blip near the end she eventually closed the match out to head into her first WTA Semi Final😀 She then faced the tricky Hsieh Su-Wei who she dispatched in style, This was one of my favourite matches of the year!! She was through to her first ever WTA tour final in singles!!! She then faced a big serving Julia Goerges... She stormed through the first set winning it with ease, she was neutralising the Goerges serve!! It got deep into the second set and Bianca was one game from winning... Goerges took her game to the next level winning the second set and then the match😔 It was a tough loss to take but tiredness seemed to catch up in that final set but it was an incredible first week to the season!!

Bianca had to go through Qualifying at the Australian Open but she made it through in style not dropping one set!! Unfortunately a couple of retirements in QR1 and QR3 but she done well to get through to her first Australian Open Women’s MD appearance😊 In one of the matches of the year, She had to face Whitney Osuigwe in R1!! It was an excruciating battle in a formidable heat!! Both players were battling with there bodies but Bianca somehow got through the match to advance to R2😍 She then faced 13th seed Sevastova but just fell short in 3 sets😔 It was quite an Incredible start to Bianca’s 2019 season, rising into the Top 100 for the first time 🎉

Newport Beach, Fed Cup & Acapulco

After the Aussie swing, Bianca entered a WTA 125k tournament in Newport Beach! Bianca’s season was getting better as she beat Volynets and Bouzkova to make it through to her second QF of the year😊 She then faced fellow countrywoman Eugenie Bouchard who she demolished 6-2 6-0 😳 Tatjana Maria proved a tough one in the semi final but she closed the match out in the third set tiebreak!! She was through to her first final of the year where she faced Jessica Pegula... She lost  the first set 0-6 but regained and won the match in 3 sets to claim her first title of 2019😍 It was an incredible week with 5 great wins💪

She then took some time off before the Fed Cup tie in Netherlands!! A lot of focus was on her after the incredible start to 2019 but she delivered once again😍 She was an integral part in there win, winning both of her rubbers in straight sets against Rus & Hogenkamp!!

Acapulco was next after a good rest after Fed Cup!! It was another strong tournament from Bianca where she made the semi finals! She defeated Teichmann, Buzarnescu and a tricky Saisai Zheng to get there💪Unfortunately the run of match wins came to an end against an inspired Sofia Kenin who also had a great start to 2019... It was a close match that could of gone either way but Kenin closed it out 7-5 in the third set 😔

Indian Wells 😍

After the wonderful start to her 2019 season, Bianca was rewarded with a Wild Card into the main draw of Indian Wells!!! She faced an opponent who she’d already played before in Irina-Camelia Begu, she previously played her in the Fed Cup vs Romania in 2018 and lost in a tight 3 sets... She got her revenge defeating her in 3 sets to advance to R2!!

Dominika Cibulkova was next and it was a very impressive performance dropping just 4 games against a dangerous player winning 6-2 6-2!! In the third round, Bianca faced Voegele and might light work of her too winning 6-1 6-2 😍 She then defeated Qiang Wang to advance to her first Premier Mandatory QF!!! She was really making a name for herself 😄

Many people wrote off Bianca when she made the last 8... Her next opponent was Garbine Muguruza!! I was very anticipated for this match and Bianca ONCE AGAIN proved she’s the rising star on tour destroying Muguruza 6-0 6-1!! She played an incredible match and was through to the semi finals!!!  Her opponent was Elina Svitolina, one of the most consistent players on tour!! It was a slow start to the match going down 0-3* early.... Bianca fought hard and won the next 6 games taking the first set 6-3😍 She was one set away from her biggest final yet!!! Svitolina fought back so well in the second to take it to a third set... People thought Svitolina would go onto win from here but NO. Bianca was fatigued but she found a new level at the end of the final set and closed the match out to advance to the final of Indian Wells😭🙌

I was so nervous on the Sunday ahead of the final... She was to face Angelique Kerber for the title!! They were both looking for there first Premier Mandatory title and Bianca came flying out the blocks showing her wonderful variety taking the first set 6-4🔥 The match was a physical battle and Kerber fought back to take the second set 6-3... Kerber then went up an early break in the third set... Bianca look out on her feet, the last 10 days looked like they had caught up with her😫 Her coach, Sylvain Bruneau came onto the court and had so very inspiring words... This on court coaching proved to be a turning point, Bianca left everything on the court and broke back straight away and then held swiftly straight after!! Her variety was causing all sorts of problems and she was putting everything into every point and her power was hard to deal with!! She then broke Kerber again to lead *5-3 and she was serving for the match!!! She had multiple match points but couldn’t convert 😫 Kerber fought like the champion she is and broke back... I was so worried at this point as Bianca looked out on her feet and cramping😭They came out and Bianca needed to break Kerber’s serve to win the match! She played some great points and got herself to another match point, Kerber netted her backhand and BIANCA HAD WON INDIAN WELLS❤️🏆There we’re so many emotions... Bianca collapsed to the floor in disbelief and hugged her whole team😭🙌It was quite incredible what she had been through in the past year having played Japan ITF 25k tournaments at the same time as Indian Wells in 2018🔥  Suffering so many injuries setbacks and coming back and winning her biggest title yet!! It was unbelievable😊She had rose into the top 30 in the world!!

TO BE CONTINUED....