Bianca Andreescu Becomes First Canadian Grand Slam Champion

Bianca Andreescu made some incredible history yesterday, shocking the tennis world by defeating heavily favored Serena Williams in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. By so doing, she became one of the youngest Grand Slam champions seen in many years. She also became the first Canadian to ever win a Grand Slam singles title in Canadian history.              

This is a woman who, last year at the U.S. Open, did not even make it out of the qualifying round, and then returned home to Ontario, suffering from an injury. It looked bleak at the time, but she turned it around with a breakout season this year which obviously culminated in this rather shocking U.S. Open triumph. But she had managed the beginning of the turnaround early this year in Auckland, New Zealand, when she reached the final by beating Caroline Wozniacki. She followed that up with huge success at Indian Wells, beating former number one, and three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber to win that title. Later, she won in her hometown tournament in Toronto, although her opponent in the final, Serena Williams, was forced to retire following an injury. Andreesen had led, 3-1, at the time.              

Incredibly, Andreescu has not lost a tennis match since the semifinals at the Mexican Open all the way back in March. She did retire in a couple of matches, but she has not actually been beaten in a full tennis match since then.              

Still, she was not expected to go that far in this U.S. Open, and it seemed that nobody expected her to actually win it all, and to beat Serena in the process.              

Now, Andreescu has managed to become the darling of her home nation of Canada, where she is the toast of the country presently. Canada also saw their only NBA team, the Toronto Raptors, capture the NBA title earlier this year, and there are Canadians who are using the hashtag #SheTheNorth towards Andreescu, referencing the catchphrase of the Raptors that caught on in a big way as that team marched to the title.              

With the win, Andreescu wins nearly $4 million in prize money. She will also jump to number 5 in the rankings as a result of this huge success.