The future of Tennis has Arrived

The Future of Tennis has Arrived

Don’t get me wrong, the legends of this sport are still alive and well. We can all see that Serena Williams is still on top of the sport and is just one Grand Slam away from tying the record-breaking 24 major titles with Margaret Court. Many thought the 23-time Grand Slam champ would finally overcome the feat at this year’s US Open but it just wasn’t time.

“If anyone else was going to win the tournament, outside of Venus of course, I would want it to be Bianca” said Williams during the trophy ceremony following the final match between herself and Bianca Andreescu.

Now you may be wondering, who in the hell is Bianca Andreescu and how could Serena Williams lose! Well, before you call it a fluke or say Serena must have not played well, let’s take a deeper look at miss Andreescu. Andreescu’s pro career is just getting started, the Canadian turned pro in 2017 and is only 19 years old! But age doesn’t mean anything on the court and the rising star is a testament to this. Andreescu’s success began earlier this year as she became the first wild card at Indian Wells to rally her way into the tournament’s semifinals, but she didn’t stop there. The 19-year-old would go on to knock off sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina and Angelique Kerber to claim her first WTA Tour title.

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It was after Indian Wells she began to turn some heads. However, the Canadian would have to retire from her fourth-round match the following month in Miami due to a nagging shoulder injury. This injury would force her to walk away from the court and take some time to heal and rest her shoulder. The rising star was roaring through draws, defeating Top 10 opponents left and right, but Andreescu would have to push pause for a bit.

Missing almost all of the clay-court season she would return for the French Open but would fall in the second round and it was clear she needed more time to fully recover. Andreescu skipped Wimbledon and the grass-court season before returning to the court just in time for the hard-court swing. The Indian Wells champion wouldn’t just return, but instead would prove to the world that she was a force to be reckoned with.

In her first tournament back in months and her hard-court debut the 19-year-old would knock off three Top 10 names, one of them being Serena Williams to win her home-turf tournament in Toronto, Canada. Although her play was impressive many would still go on to disregard her at the last year’s major. Names like Simona Halep, Serena Williams, Kiki Bertens, and Ash Barty would be the main topic of conversation for serious US Open contenders.

Flying under the radar, Andreescu would humbly and quietly continued to play her game that has led her to go undefeated against Top 10 opponents. In her US Open debut she would reach the finals and would be faced with yet again, Serena Williams who seemed to be unstoppable and playing some of her best tennis since having baby Olympia.

With the packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd overwhelmingly cheering for Serena, it was silent in Andreescu’s mind. Even though this was her first Grand Slam final it was as if she had played on this stage all her life. She was poised but ferocious as she stepped into every shot and showed no mercy in her, 6-3, 7-5, victory over Williams.

Falling onto the court in shock, it was in this moment, the future of tennis had arrived.

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“I’m definitely greedy” said the 2019 US Open champion in a post-match presser. I think we will be seeing a lot more from the tenacious teenager as she resembles the perfectionist mentality of Serena Williams and will be hungry for more.

Andreescu is joined with many up-and-coming stars such as Taylor Townsend, Cori “Coco” Gauff, and Caty McNally who all undoubtedly remind us the future is happening now.