Canada’s Bianca Andreescu is a GOAT in the making

Born at the dawn of the new millennium, Bianca Andreescu has taken the world of tennis by storm with a playstyle fitting of a future GOAT.

This is a guest post by Yaseen Hijazi, an established freelance writer based in Sydney, Australia. He is a regular contributor for Lob and Smash, a professional tennis news website based in the US.

A story that began in the year 2000 in the humble town of Mississauga, Canada, Bianca Andreescu was born for success. Picking up the racquet at seven years of age, she was destined to be a star of the sport as she quickly picked up the fundamentals and moved to the U14 National Training Centre in Toronto by the age of 12.

A serious attitude towards her training and a strong dedication to tennis at such a young age were the key ingredients for Bianca Andreescu’s early success as a junior. From winning the prestigious U14 Les Petits As tournament to taking out the U16 Orange Bowl and even competing in U18 events at just 14 years of age, there’s no denying her mass achievements as a youngster early on in her career. Indeed, the young Canadian’s rocket-like rise on the junior WTA Tour was a piercing foreshadow of what was to come next.

In 2019, at the ripe age of 19, Bianca Andreescu made an unbelievable run at the Canadian Open and then the US Open. Shortly after winning the Canadian Open final against Serena Williams via walkover, Andreescu was destined to meet the WTA GOAT again on the big stage in New York for a much-needed rematch.

In her first-ever US Open, the Canadian teenager put on a dazzling performance throughout the tournament, eventually besting Serena Williams in a 6-3 7-5 straight-set victory and securing her first-ever Grand Slam title. Sadly, this would be Andreescu’s highest career moment before a series of injuries hindered her success in the following years of 2020 and 2021.

So, what is Bianca Andreescu doing right?

The most impressive aspect of Andreescu’s success was not the fact that she bested Serena Williams at a Grand Slam final, but the way in which she did so. When facing a powerhouse talent like Serena Williams, few and far between have what it takes to match her power, often forcing her opponents to play a defensive game in hopes of weathering the storm.

This was not the case for the 19-year-old, as she stuck to her guns and put on a performance fitting of a GOAT, unleashing her powerful shots, and picking her moments to strike. Both players were ripping through the ball and hitting ridiculously deep shots that would catch the baseline, neither giving in to the other’s overwhelming power.

Is Bianca Andreescu the next Serena Williams?

Powerful groundstrokes, offensive playstyle, and huge service games are attributes of a dominant champion, and Bianca Andreescu has it all. She faced one of the greatest tennis players of all time in her home ground at the US Open and beat her at her own power game. It was indeed a ‘passing of the torch moment,’ as the teenage superstar is set to carry on the flame of the offensive powerplay that has allowed Serena Williams to dominate the WTA for many years.

Not many players can say they have a 100% win rate against a GOAT-status player like Serena Williams, but so far, this has been the case for the powerful Bianca Andreescu. It would seem her greatest enemy is herself, as few have rivalled the Romanian-Canadian when she is playing at her best and without the burden of injury.

There’s no doubt about it. If Bianca Andreescu’s extended run of injuries is to subside, she has the game to become the next Serena Williams of the WTA Tour. As a symbol of strength, beauty, and passion, Bianca will continue to inspire all tennis fans long after Serena’s retirement, carrying the 23-time Grand Slam GOAT’s legacy for future generations.

Where to now for Bianca?

In the 2021 US Open, Bianca Andreescu showed a glimpse of a resurgence of her former glory, powering through to the round of 16, where she eventually met her defeat as injury once again reared its ugly head. Nevertheless, the young Grand Slam champion has a long career ahead of her, and if she plays her cards right in dealing with her injuries, she may well be a great force to be reckoned with in the WTA and perhaps a future GOAT of women’s tennis.