Astar is born. That is how I feelAstar is born. That is how I feelabout the sudden, amazingrise of Bianca Andreescu. Itis not often that a teenagercomes from nowhere in ourgame and seems immediatelyto have the stamp of achampion. I’m excited afterwatching her win at IndianWells last week, and anyonewho has not yet seen her has a treat tocome.I remember Boris Becker winningWimbledon unseeded at the age of 17 andSerena Williams winning at Indian Wellsas a 17-year-old phenomenon. Then therewas the time, 2005 I believe, when Iplayed a pre-Wimbledon exhibition inLiverpool and had a mixed-doubles partnerI had never heard of but who I realisedstraight away was special. His namewas Novak Djokovic. Champions likethose somehow have a presence. It’s theway they walk, talk, think, carry themselves.Andreescu has that.She says all the right things media-wiseand she can also handle the big stage andthrive on it. You see plenty of fine playerswho tend to choke when the pressure ison or are intimidated by a stadium crowdor the big occasion. Those players usuallyplay their best tennis in practice. Thechampions welcome the eyes of theworld, embrace the momentous occasionsand bring out their best when itreally matters. That’s why we love thetrue champions.Andreescu took some notable scalpsand reached the final as a qualifier atAuckland in early January but her trueemergence from the chrysalis came lastweek at the BNP Paribas Open in IndianWells, one of the biggest tournaments MaroutsideMaroutsidethe Grand Slam championships.With a mixed background from Canada,the country she represents, and Romania,Andreescu was a wild-card entry,aged 18. She thrashed Garbine Muguruza,the 2017 Wimbledon champion, and battledto overcome Elina Svitolina, theworld No 5, in the semi-finals before beatingAngelique Kerber, the reigning Wimbledonchampion, in the final.Mind you, it was not those shockresults that most impressed me. It wasthe combination of her poise as a performerand the creative nature of hergame. She is solid in all respects, secureon both wings with a powerful first serviceand a better second service thanmost on the women’s tour. It is the varietyof her game, though, that marks outAndreescu and is so refreshing. Paradoxically,it’s also rather old-fashioned.In the modern game, the majoritysprint along the baseline and slug it out with groundstrokes until one of themwith groundstrokes until one of themmisses or hits a winner. These players justplay their own game and hope it outmatchesthe opponent’s game. Theydon’t stop to analyse the opponent, towork out what the opponent doesn’twant and cannot handle.Andreescu has the weight of shot andconsistency to join in with the baselinersbut she also has the high tennis IQ to varythe exchanges. She likes to break up therallies by introducing a change of pace,coming into the net, using some trickyspins and angles. It brings in strategy, theelement of surprise, and it’s a breath offresh air. It is not easy because even witha wide selection of weapons, you have tochoose how and when to best employthem. It’s called shot selection andAndreescu has the goods. It may beinstinct, or intelligence, but she has anuncanny ability to get it right.In this respect, she reminds me of Martina Hingis , the world’s best in the late1990s. Sometimes Hingis would come upwith a shot that appeared an odd choice,a slow, sliced shot angled in the forecourt,for example. And almost invariablyit turned out to be just the shot toflummox her opponent and win thepoint. Andreescu does not yet haveHingis’s soft hands or capability at thenet, but she knows when to throw in adrop-shot or a slow, looping moonball tothe back of the court.Marvellous as she already is, there isroom for improvement. Against Kerber,Andreescu wanted to come forward tothe net in the final set but was just tootired. The fitness to play these difficultback-to-back matches is not there yet, butthat part is fairly easy to fix.On grass, she will find that her varietyis a great asset, but she will need toshorten her swing on the forehand a littlebit and also improve her slice. These adjustments are all doable and her coach,adjustments are all doable and her coach,Sylvain Bruneau, clearly knows his stuff. Icannot hide my enthusiasm forAndreescu but I’m well aware that I maybe adding to the weight of expectation.So far, she appears to be able to handle allthe attention.As she recently said, “I try not to haveexpectations because expectations ruin alot of things.” That is a great attitude andshows her maturity.Andreescu is not the only bright newstar to have come shining into thewomen’s game. Two years ago, it was JelenaOstapenko, who crashed the sceneby winning the French Open, but she hasstruggled pretty much since. Last yearNaomi Osaka won at Indian Wells and shehas gone on to win the US Open and theAustralian Open. She is the current worldNo 1, but she may soon find Andreescu onher tail. Every time Andreescu plays a topplayer, we look up the records and see itwill be their “first meeting”. It will be“first meeting” when she plays SerenaWilliams, 19 years her senior, and “firstmeeting” when she plays Osaka.I can’t wait to see Andreescu versusWilliams. But I am even more excitedabout Andreescu versus Osaka: thatcould be the first instalment of one of oursport’s great rivalries.
Sometimes Hingis would come upwith a shot that appeared an odd choice,a slow, sliced shot angled in the forecourt,for example. And almost invariablyit turned out to be just the shot toflummox her opponent and win thepoint. Andreescu does not yet haveHingis’s soft hands or capability at thenet, but she knows when to throw in adrop-shot or a slow, looping moonball tothe back of the court.Marvellous as she already is, there isroom for improvement. Against Kerber,Andreescu wanted to come forward tothe net in the final set but was just tootired. The fitness to play these difficultback-to-back matches is not there yet, butthat part is fairly easy to fix.On grass, she will find that her varietyis a great asset, but she will need toshorten her swing on the forehand a littlebit and also improve her slice. Theseadjustments are all doable and her coach,Sylvain Bruneau, clearly knows his stuff. Icannot hide my enthusiasm forAndreescu but I’m well aware that I maybe adding to the weight of expectation.So far, she appears to be able to handle allthe attention.As she recently said, “I try not to haveexpectations because expectations ruin alot of things.” That is a great attitude andshows her maturity.Andreescu is not the only bright newstar to have come shining into thewomen’s game. Two years ago, it was JelenaOstapenko, who crashed the sceneby winning the French Open, but she hasstruggled pretty much since. Last yearNaomi Osaka won at Indian Wells and shehas gone on to win the US Open and theAustralian Open. She is the current worldNo 1, but she may soon find Andreescu onher tail. Every time Andreescu plays a topplayer, we look up the records and see itwill be their “first meeting”. It will be“first meeting” when she plays SerenaWilliams, 19 years her senior, and “firstmeeting” when she plays Osaka.I can’t wait to see Andreescu versusWilliams. But I am even more excitedabout Andreescu versus Osaka: thatcould be the first instalment of one of oursport’s great rivalries.with groundstrokes until one of themmisses or hits a winner. These players justplay their own game and hope it outmatchesthe opponent’s game. Theydon’t stop to analyse the opponent, towork out what the opponent doesn’twant and cannot handle.Andreescu has the weight of shot andconsistency to join in with the baselinersbut she also has the high tennis IQ to varythe exchanges. She likes to break up therallies by introducing a change of pace,coming into the net, using some trickyspins and angles. It brings in strategy, theelement of surprise, and it’s a breath offresh air. It is not easy because even witha wide selection of weapons, you have tochoose how and when to best employthem. It’s called shot selection andAndreescu has the goods. It may beinstinct, or intelligence, but she has anuncanny ability to get it right.In this respect, she reminds me of Maroutsidethe Grand Slam championships.With a mixed background from Canada,the country she represents, and Romania,Andreescu was a wild-card entry,aged 18. She thrashed Garbine Muguruza,the 2017 Wimbledon champion, and battledto overcome Elina Svitolina, theworld No 5, in the semi-finals before beatingAngelique Kerber, the reigning Wimbledonchampion, in the final.Mind you, it was not those shockresults that most impressed me. It wasthe combination of her poise as a performerand the creative nature of hergame. She is solid in all respects, secureon both wings with a powerful first serviceand a better second service thanmost on the women’s tour. It is the varietyof her game, though, that marks outAndreescu and is so refreshing. Paradoxically,it’s also rather old-fashioned.In the modern game, the majoritysprint along the baseline and slug it outIt is the variety ofher game thatmarks her out andis so refreshing.Paradoxically, it’salso old-fashionedAstar is born. That is how I feelabout the sudden, amazingrise of Bianca Andreescu. Itis not often that a teenagercomes from nowhere in ourgame and seems immediatelyto have the stamp of achampion. I’m excited afterwatching her win at IndianWells last week, and anyonewho has not yet seen her has a treat tocome.I remember Boris Becker winningWimbledon unseeded at the age of 17 andSerena Williams winning at Indian Wellsas a 17-year-old phenomenon. Then therewas the time, 2005 I believe, when Iplayed a pre-Wimbledon exhibition inLiverpool and had a mixed-doubles partnerI had never heard of but who I realisedstraight away was special. His namewas Novak Djokovic. Champions likethose somehow have a presence. It’s theway they walk, talk, think, carry themselves.Andreescu has that.She says all the right things media-wiseand she can also handle the big stage andthrive on it. You see plenty of fine playerswho tend to choke when the pressure ison or are intimidated by a stadium crowdor the big occasion. Those players usuallyplay their best tennis in practice. Thechampions welcome the eyes of theworld, embrace the momentous occasionsand bring out their best when itreally matters. That’s why we love thetrue champions.Andreescu took some notable scalpsand reached the final as a qualifier atAuckland in early January but her trueemergence from the chrysalis came lastweek at the BNP Paribas Open in IndianWells, one of the biggest tournamentsThe latest sensation in women’s gameshowed at Indian Wells that she has awinning blend of poise and creativityHeading for thetop: BiancaAndreescucelebrates acareer-highvictory in theBNP ParibasOpen finalJOHN G MABANGLO MOVE OVER, SERENA...HERE COMES BIANCA