Winning, Canada-style: Bianca Andreescu inspires at US Open
| Toronto
After clinching victory to become the first Canadian to reach a singles final at the U.S. Open, Bianca Andreescu gripped her head looking up to the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium and repeated, 鈥淥h my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my 鈥︹��
It鈥檚 that display of disbelief, incongruent to the ferocity of her game, that has endeared the Ontario teen, the daughter of immigrant parents, to the Canadian public.
As she faces Serena Williams Saturday night 鈥� a rematch of sorts after the Rogers Cup, where her grace and poise sealed Ms. Andreescu鈥檚 place in the national consciousness 鈥� she has Canadians enthralled, and perhaps seeing a bit of themselves in her.
Why We Wrote This
Canadian values like warmth and politeness don't seem like they'd go hand in hand with top-flight competitive sports. But rising tennis star Bianca Andreescu has been meshing them seamlessly.
Her ascent comes on the heels of another fairy-tale聽Canadian sports story聽鈥� the聽Toronto Raptors聽becoming the 2019 NBA champs.聽With #WeTheNorth signs still hanging off balconies across Toronto, the nation woke up Friday to a new hashtag: #SheTheNorth.
Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau weighed in with a tweet today: 鈥淵ou鈥檒l have a whole country with you tomorrow, @Bandreescu_! #SheTheNorth.鈥�
For many Canadians, she seemed to come out of nowhere. For tennis experts, who have watched her gutsy play for years, it鈥檚 her 鈥渢oolbox鈥� that has catapulted her to the top. 鈥淪he can hit hard. She can hit heavy spin. She can use drop shots. She can slice. She can change angles. She can do a lot of everything,鈥� says Canadian sports broadcaster Ben Lewis.
And she just turned 19. The Globe and Mail , 鈥淪he looks like our next Gretzky.鈥�
But her appeal is about so much more than sport. After victory on Wednesday, she wondered out loud, 鈥淚 need someone to pinch me right now, is this real life? Is this real life?鈥�
She knows how to play the crowd and those who watch her say she seems to genuinely love it. A teenager, she has also come of age navigating social media 鈥� and thus her branding 鈥� but she manages to do it all without being too over the top.
鈥淵ou could say maybe she has sort of the Canadian politeness. I want to say she鈥檚 confident but not arrogant. At the same time I think maybe, for whatever reason, she hasn鈥檛 taken notice of just how fantastic a tennis player she is,鈥� Mr. Lewis says.
Fair enough. She ended last season ranked No. 178. After Saturday, she will sit in the top 10.
Her rise has come so fast that tennis commentators haven鈥檛 gotten all the details right, says Mike McIntyre, who with Mr. Lewis runs the podcast .
鈥淭hey went on the air and were saying she was born in Romania, that she was Romanian and moved to Canada. Well that鈥檚 not actually what happened. She was born in Canada and spent a couple of years over in Romania. So that just goes to show you that even the experts don鈥檛 know all that much,鈥� he says.
They certainly do now 鈥� as do the Canadians, many of whom might not have ever even watched a game, reveling in a feel-good immigration story.
One Canadian news director tweeted: 鈥淏ianca Andreescu is the superstar Canada needs. Humble, determined, talented, classy. She鈥檚 the daughter of immigrants. Her story is THE Canadian story. I love Serena, but Go Bianca!鈥�
Ms. Andreescu聽just might be the superstar the world needs right now, and it's why the game on Saturday will be so special no matter who prevails. Ms. Williams due to an injury and was on the bench in tears. Her opponent, Ms. Andreescu, who鈥檇 win the competition because of it, came over and wrapped Ms. Williams in a hug.
鈥淚'm so sorry ... I鈥檝e watched you your whole career. You鈥檙e a ... beast,鈥澛燤s. Andreescu told her courtside.
Ms. Williams laughed 鈥� and continued to cry 鈥� and later called Ms. Andreescu an 鈥渙ld soul.鈥�
鈥淏ianca just seemed to know how to handle that moment 鈥� to cut the tension and to get the crowd to not only feel that sympathy for Serena but also to really see Bianca in a different light that we haven鈥檛 seen before,鈥� Mr. McIntyre says. 鈥淚 asked Serena, 鈥榃hat was the most positive aspect of your week here?鈥� thinking she was going to answer something other than that day where she was injured, and she said this is the most positive moment because of the way Bianca handled it and the way that she sort of reached out to me in that way.鈥�
It鈥檚 a moment that some commentators have called one of the best moments in sports this year 鈥� and a show of camaraderie that spans well beyond Canada and the world of sports.
Don鈥檛 miss it.
